


Hypoglycemia

by SarahEverton



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, CADMUS - Freeform, Drama, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Maggie has a secret, Project Cadmus, Psychological Trauma, Romance, Torture, a lot of drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-14 18:48:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 30,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11214054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarahEverton/pseuds/SarahEverton
Summary: A raid on CADMUS goes south, leaving Alex and Maggie trapped in the base. When Maggie collapses, Alex realizes her girlfriend is good at keeping life-threatening secrets.





	1. Chapter 1

It all went south so fast.

One minute, Alex and her squad were ready to start firing at the CADMUS soldiers running around the site, flanked by Supergirl herself, who'd taken point and was being shot at herself.

The next thing she remembers is her back hitting the ground – _where did the sky go? –_ and feeling an intense pain in her chest. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think.

She vaguely heard somebody shouting her name, but it was too far away to identify. After a few moments of agonizing gasps and chest pain, she felt herself slip away.

She was out before she even knew it.

"Danvers… Hey, Alex. Open your eyes, come on. _Please_."

She recognized the voice. She could recognize it anywhere. Without opening her eyes, she tried to lean forward toward the sound.

"Maggie…"

Two gentle hands pushed her back by the shoulders. "Careful. Don't move too much."

"B-Bullet?" Alex winced, finally opening her eyes. It was very dark, and she couldn't tell where she was. Maggie looked unharmed, but pale and sweaty. It was obvious she was scared, and Alex realized with a jolt that the concern might have been for her.

The detective nodded quickly. "Right in the vest."

Alex traced her own fingers down to her chest, where she felt a hard piece of metal stuck into the fabric of her vest. _Thank god for that thing_.

"Help me… Up…" She grunted, trying to sit upright. Maggie didn't look convinced at all, but supported her lower back and brought her to a sitting position, leaning on something solid that felt like a wall. Alex finally got a good look around, and saw that she didn't recognize her surroundings at all.

"Where…" She wheezed. Maggie stared at her, her forehead still creased with concern. "We're still at CADMUS. I saw you go down after you took the hit, so I dragged you out of the crossfire. I don't know where we are, but we can't move."

"Why not?"

Maggie took a second to answer. "Cameras. It looks like this is a blind spot, but I don't want to risk it…" She sighed. "We lost, Alex. J'onn pulled the entire squad back after realizing it was pointless, their guns are far more advanced. They have armor piercing rounds, you're lucky it didn't go straight through." Her voice wavered on the last sentence, and it didn't go unnoticed.

Alex took a shaky breath, trying to test if her ribs could take it, and found that though extremely uncomfortable, it didn't hurt as much as it'd done before.

Until she realized what she'd been forgetting. She shot up again, Maggie's eyes widening as she jolted forward to help her instinctively. Alex winced at her protesting ribs, but looked her girlfriend in the eyes. "Kara. What… Is she-"

"I…" Maggie's hesitation made her stomach drop. When the brunette realized what conclusions Alex was jumping to, she shook her head quickly. "She took a few hits, but it wasn't anything serious. I'm sure it's all okay. You know her, she may act like a puppy most of the time but she's one tough bitch."

Alex' brow furrowed. "What?"

"You know…" Maggie grunted. "Dog metaphors. You know what? Never mind."

"So, what? We're stuck here? In a… What is this, a broom closet?"

"I think more of a storage room. There are shelves." Maggie pointed over her shoulder. Alex leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes.

"Hey, babe, stay with me." Maggie pressed again, moving her hand to rest on the other woman's cheek. "You can't leave me here."

"I won't." Alex smiled softly at the touch. "I love you."

Maggie laughed. "Dork."

She slowly got up, pulling her gun. Alex frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Checking to see if there's a way out of here. I don't know if anyone knows where I took you. I'm sure the DEO is looking for us, but so is CADMUS, probably."

"Be careful."

Maggie grinned lopsidedly, flashing her dimples. "Always am, Danvers."

With her footsteps fading out, she disappeared from Alex' vision. The agent leaned back again, and tried to remember what had happened before, when it all went bad. But except for hitting the deck hard and blacking out, there was nothing.

Not even a minute later, Maggie was back by her side, kneeling down beside her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay." Alex said, quickly trying to get to her feet. Maggie bit her lip, unsure how to react. "Are you sure? I mean, you took a bad fall…"

"Mags. It nothing I haven't had before. I'm-…"

Before she could elaborate, they both heard footsteps. Maggie wrapped an arm around her, forcing Alex to get on her knees again and stay low. She grabbed her gun from her holster again, and waited breathlessly at the corner of one of the nearby shelves.

There was a CADMUS soldier walking along the shelves in a steady, rhythmic pace. Neither of the two women dared to breathe, though Alex could feel her lungs protesting the lack of air. She'd have a bruise the size of Jupiter on her chest, that much was sure. Maybe even a cracked or broken rib along the way.

The soldier turned a corner. He was now close to them. Too close. Maggie glanced back at Alex, and they had a second of eye-contact, before they both knew what was coming.

As soon as the soldier was near Maggie's shelf, she jumped him, and grabbed him by the neck, forcing him down. He struggled, and ran backwards into the wall, where Maggie's back hit the concrete, earning a yelp. Alex got up and went to help her, but Maggie jumped back from the hit quickly, and went back for his neck. After a few punches and kicks from the both of them, she finally managed to crack his head against the wall. He slid down like a ragdoll, hitting the floor.

Alex stared at her in amazement, though it quickly morphed into concern. "Maggie! Are you okay?!"

The detective dabbed the backside of her hand against her face, blood dripping from her nose. "Peachy."

Alex grabbed her by the wrists and forced her to look her in the eyes as she used her sleeve to gently wipe the blood away. It didn't stop Maggie from wincing, and pulling away from her, turning to the wall so that her back was facing her girlfriend.

Alex only had a second to feel hurt at the rejection, before Maggie spoke again. "A-Al?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"W-we have a p-problem."

It was the second time Maggie had slurred her words, and for a second, an infinite amount of possibilities and scenarios raced through Alex' mind. Had Maggie hit her head against the wall? Did she have a concussion? Brain damage? An aneurysm?!

Alex took an instinctive step forward into the direction of her girlfriend, grabbing her forearm, before Maggie spun around, and all but collapsed into her girlfriend's arms. Alex gasped, as her senses and emotions completely overtook her years of training and professionalism. Her girlfriend just collapsed.

"Maggie?!" Alex kept one hand on Maggie's wrist to take her pulse, the other on her cheek. When the brunette didn't immediately respond, Alex tapped her cheek gently. "Maggie, can you hear me? Hey… Baby, talk to me."

"S-sugar." Maggie mumbled incoherently. "Sugar…"

Alex frowned at the request. Was she that out of it? Delirious?

Slowly, and without any grip whatsoever, Maggie grabbed the hand that was taking her pulse. "A-Alex. Sugar."

"I don't understand. Sugar? What do you mean?"

"I-I'm… Diabetic." Maggie finally managed to stammer. Alex's stomach jumped at the confession. She'd never noticed. And she'd eaten with her girlfriend plenty of times before, hell, she'd spent days on end with her! Why had she never seen it?!

Maggie must have seen the confusion on her face, because she smirked weakly. "I'm… Embarrassed. Wanted to k-keep it h-hidden from you."

Alex took Maggie's hand in hers, and tried really hard not to notice how pale and shaky the other woman had become. "Maggie, listen to me. You never, _never ever_ get embarrassed about something as serious as this! Why didn't you tell me?! I could have kept an eye on you! I made you eat a huge piece of cake at Winn's birthday, why didn't you stop me?!"

"S' okay, Danvers." Maggie mumbled. "S'alright…"

Alex realized what the slurring meant. "Hey, no, Maggie, stay with me… Baby!" She tried, but the brunette's eyes rolled backwards and she went limp in her arms.

"Shit…" Alex looked around at the shelves, but it was too dark in the room to see anything in detail. She checked if everything was still on her belt and found, much to her relief, that her phone was still in her pocket. She must have lost her gun during the shootout, though.

She fished her phone out of her pocket and stared at it for a second, planning her next move.

Did CADMUS have some sort of tracking device? Would they be alarmed instantly as soon as she made a call?

One look at the now ashen complexion of her girlfriend made her throw all the caution in the world out the window. Maggie needed medical care, she needed a hospital as soon as possible.

She had to risk it. She quick-dialed J'onn, but the line went dead immediately. Shocked, she pulled the phone back from her ear, and realized to her own distress that there was no signal, wherever they were. "No, no…" She tried again, and again, but none of the calls could connect. "Fuck… Fuck, Maggie, I don't know what to do…"

No. She was Alex Danvers, for god's sake. What was she doing sitting here and crying?! She needed to find a solution, and fast. She grabbed Maggie's gun from her holster, gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, and crawled to the body of the guard, swiping his keycard and credentials.

Every step she took was a fight with her own body telling her to stay down and rest. Her ribs were screaming again, but she ignored the pain. Now, she had something bigger to worry about.

She rounded a corner, and spotted the camera. If she could make her way over to one certain spot in the corridor she could stay undetected. Jesus, why didn't Maggie just say she was diabetic?

Alex felt like a horrible girlfriend for not noticing something was seriously wrong with her. Then again, if Maggie wanted something hidden from the world, she'd get away with it. It probably wasn't the only skeleton in her closet.

She checked her phone again. Still nothing. Would Kara be healed enough to come get them? Was Kara as okay as Maggie made it seem, or did she diminish Kara's injuries to calm her down?

A thousand questions raced through her mind as she shuffled one step at a time, getting closer to escaping and help, but also further away from Maggie.

Her heart leapt at the thought of Lillian Luthor walking into the storage room and finding an unconscious Maggie along with a beat-up soldier. The things she'd do to her… It made the hair at the back of Alex' neck stand up with fear.

A noise behind her made her spin around quickly, raising the gun. Her eyes widened when she saw the shape stumbling out of the door and into the corridor.

"Hey, no, Maggie, stay there-!" She tried to warn, but it was too late. She'd walked right into the camera's field of view, and within seconds, an alarm started blaring through the building.

"Fuck." Alex cursed. Now that she couldn't care less about the cameras, she sprinted back towards where Maggie was barely keeping herself upright, to hold her in her arms.

"I didn't… know where you were." The brunette managed to look her in the eyes weakly. "I thought you'd been…"

She didn't finish the sentence, but she didn't need to either. Alex understood how scared she must have been. "Get back in the room. Go."

When Maggie's legs didn't cooperate, Alex eased her into her arms, and carried her back into the room bridal style. She felt Maggie's head loll back and forth against her neck and the fear and doubt returned, making her head cloud with worry.

She couldn't think with the blaring alarm in her ears, though she realized that they didn't have a lot of time before something, or someone, would find them.

"Maggie, I love you, okay? Whatever happens." She wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and kissed her on the lips intensely. Although she didn't want Maggie to worry too much in her state – if she was even aware of what was going on at all – it still felt too much like a goodbye.

She didn't hear Maggie's mumbled response, but she didn't need to. She was sure Maggie would feel the same way and make the same decisions had the roles been reversed. She raised the gun, and waited for a shootout.

She'd gladly bargain with Lillian to spare Maggie from her experiments and captivity. She'd trade everything she owned and had to get her girlfriend the medical help she needed. Hell, at this point, she'd die for-

Food. Sugar. That was what Maggie needed, right? She leapt up. One eye trained on the door in case somebody came through, the rest of her body focused completely on checking the shelves for anything remotely sugary.

The most part of the storage was for old metal parts, chemicals and other junk she was sure CADMUS used for their foul experiments, but nothing there would help. But she couldn't give up. She would never forgive herself.

She went back to the guard, still lying unconscious near the wall, and checked his pockets.

The sight of a candy bar had never before brought the relief she'd felt that instant. She yanked it out of his pants, opened the wrapper and fell onto her knees next to Maggie. "Hey, baby, look what I found…"

Maggie didn't respond. Alex frowned, and shook her shoulder gently. "Maggie, I found candy. Come on, open your eyes, you need to bite it."

It took one second of numbness and unresponsiveness for Alex to start panicking. She put the candy bar down and checked Maggie's pulse. It was weak, but there. Her breathing was too slow. Maggie was sinking down into an abyss Alex never wanted to even think about.

Footsteps behind her. At that point, Alex couldn't even care if it was Lillian Luthor herself coming to finish her off. She'd kill them. She'd kill all of them if Maggie wouldn't wake up again to flash those adorable dimples of hers.

She reached for her gun and turned around, but instead of being met with a barrel pointed at her face, she saw a red and blue figure in front of her.

_Supergirl._

"Oh, thank God…" Alex was sobbing freely now. "Kara, you need to help me…"

Kara saw Maggie's body, and paled visibly. "Oh, Rao…"

"She's hurt. She won't wake up, and her blood sugar is too low. You need to fly her to a hospital."

Kara nodded, and reached forward to pick Maggie up, and look Alex in the eyes one more time. "I'm coming back for you. Stay here, don't move. There might be more of them on this floor."

Alex honestly didn't care. She watched as Kara took off into the corridor, and the only thing on her mind was that Maggie was safe, hopefully.

And the talk they both needed to have after she woke up. Because if their current situation was any indication, they needed to be much more open and transparent with each other, so Alex could have prevented this.

She made a mental note to carry something sugary on her from now on, and to make sure that her cheat day drawer was always well-stocked. And to never let Maggie get embarrassed by something so stupid ever again.


	2. Chapter 2

All heads on base turned to the Girl of Steel instantly, entering by crumbling the concrete underneath her feet as she landed, and carrying an unconscious Maggie Sawyer in her arms.

When she was sure two agents had Maggie safely in their grip to bring her to Medical, Kara launched herself into the air again, to fly back and extract Alex.

The agent was still right where she'd left her, staring at the spot where some of Maggie's blood had dripped red on the dusty floor. Kara had grabbed her by the shoulders, but even after convincing her sister more than five times that Maggie was fine, she still wouldn't budge.

Eventually, Kara grew tired of not being heard, and took her sister in her arms, speeding off, and whispering into her ear the entire journey through that she'd be reunited with her girlfriend soon. All Alex could do was sob.

Kara hadn't forgotten about the bullet still lodged in Alex' vest, and it pained her to see it stuck in there, so close to doing damage, so close to making her sister bleed. So the second they touched down – after the blonde grimaced at the damage she'd done to the base previously – she looked her sister in the eyes. "You need to get to Medical."

Alex started walking to the medical wing, but Kara grabbed her by the wrist, forcing her to look her in the eyes once again. " _Alex_. You need to get checked out first before you check on her."

"No, I… I need to be with her. I'm fine."

Kara rolled her eyes. "Alex. Don't make me drag you into a bed. Just a little check-up to make sure you're not hurt, okay?"

Alex allowed her sister to pull her into Medical, and took a seat onto one of the beds. Looking over the medical wing, she didn't see Maggie anywhere. She grabbed Kara by the wrist. "Where is she?" Her voice sounded hollow, and raw.

"They must have taken her elsewhere. I don't know." Seconds later, doctor Hamilton appeared in the doorway. "Supergirl. Alex."

"Amelia." Alex sighed in relief at the familiar face. "How is she?"

"She has some cuts and bruises, and a bump on the back of her head, but it doesn't seem like she has anything besides a mild concussion, so I honestly don't understand why she's not conscious."

Alex cleared her throat, the professional in her surfacing again. "She has type 1 diabetes. She went into hypoglycemia at CADMUS, and I couldn't find anything to give her."

Hamilton scribbled something down onto her clipboard, before speeding out of the room. Kara squeezed her sister's shoulder. Alex sighed. "I didn't help her. I have an M.D. and I didn't do anything."

"Alex, you did help. You did everything you could under the circumstances." Kara tucked a stray piece of hair behind her sister's ear. "And she's going to be okay."

"If she just told me…" Alex rubbed at her face in frustration. "She said she was embarrassed, Kara! Who is embarrassed by something so serious? We've been dating for months, I should have known…"

Kara seemed speechless for a second. The only thing she did was wrap her arms around her sister, and allow her to sob into her shoulder.

After what seemed like hours, Hamilton appeared back into the doorway. "Alright, Danvers. Let's get you checked out."

Alex' gaze traveled upwards to meet the doctor's eyes, silently asking the question that had been on her mind ever since this started.

"She's doing better." Hamilton said. "We're monitoring her glucose levels, and giving her fluids, her numbers are way better now. She should wake up soon."

Alex sighed, the relief making her light-headed for a second. Hamilton frowned, and took a seat on a stool next to the bed. "Now, what happened to you?"

"Took a bullet in the Kevlar." Alex pointed down to the metal object, her hand now slipping down to link with Kara's. Hamilton nodded, and wrote something down. "Any trouble breathing?"

"At first, yeah. It got better after a while."

"Any chest pain?"

"Probably cracked a rib or two."

Hamilton smiled, she'd almost forgotten how stubborn agent Danvers really was when it came to medical stuff. Alex insisted she treated herself when her injuries weren't too serious, as 'she herself could perfectly assess the amount of painkillers she needed'. Or something like that.

"Alright. Can you take off the vest and your tactical gear?"

Kara helped Alex undo the zipper on her black DEO gear, and Alex gently shrugged it off her torso.

The blonde couldn't help but wince when she saw the dark, almost black bruise covering her sister's chest, near the right side. She narrowed her eyes, scanning her sister's body for damage.

"I can see fractures in at least 2 ribs. No, wait, 3." She turned to Hamilton, who nodded and wrote it down. "We'll do an x-ray just to have visuals. Pain? From 1 to 10?"

"4. I can take it, Amelia. I can barely feel it."

"Well, be that as it may, I still want you to take some painkillers and get some rest." Hamilton looked her friend and colleague in the eyes. "When you wake up, and the pain is manageable, I'll see what you can do to help monitor detective Sawyer."

Alex nodded sincerely. "Thank you."

Hamilton grinned. "Not much I could do to stop you either way, might as well help."

She gave Alex a dose of painkillers, and after making sure she was comfortable, left the pair alone. Kara smiled weakly at her sister. "I love you."

"Did you…" Alex was now slurring herself, the painkillers getting in her system almost instantaneously. "Did you get enough time under the sunlamps?"

Kara nodded. "Good as new, big sis."

"Good." Alex' eyes drooped closed. "Good."

Kara held her sister's hand until she was absolutely sure that she was out like a light, and told herself to get some rest after the battle as well.

As she was dozing off, her superhearing picked up a conversation in the hallway, not too far from where they were, but far enough that they wouldn't be heard by anyone.

"… _Didn't tell her. She needed to rest." Hamilton._

" _You know her. She'll find out either way when she wakes up, and she won't understand why you didn't tell her."_

Kara's stomach somersaulted. She walked out of the room, taking big steps towards the voices. When she turned a corner, she saw Hamilton speaking to another doctor. The pair must have sensed that Kara was angry, because the other doctor excused himself quickly.

"What was that?!" Kara glared.

Hamilton frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about, Supergirl."

"I heard you two talking. What's wrong with Maggie? Why did you lie to Alex?"

Hamilton smiled sadly, and pulled her aside. "Her blood sugar levels were dangerously low. J'onn went to her apartment to get her glucose meter, and we accessed the saved data. She hasn't been taking care of herself, Supergirl. Her levels have been too low for a few days now. It's no wonder she crashed."

"Why would she do that?" Kara stammered. "I don't understand."

Hamilton shrugged, unable to provide an answer. "We'll have to ask her when she wakes up Excuse me."

As the doctor walked off, Kara was left alone in the corridor, wondering what went through Maggie's head those last few days.

She walked through the hallway, and finally arrived at a closed glass door. Behind it, one of the DEO doctors was changing an IV fluid bag, and tapping the wire connected to Maggie's wrist.

The detective looked pale, gray and sweaty. It broke Kara's hart to see the tough, badass she'd always been a little jealous of lying so helpless. For a nanosecond, she didn't want Alex to see her girlfriend like this.

But then again, Alex was the only person who Maggie let in to her private life, so Kara wouldn't be surprised if Alex was the only one who could put her back together.

"Don't worry Maggie." Kara smiled weakly against the glass. "Alex is on her way."


	3. Chapter 3

When Alex woke up, it took a second to get her bearings and realize that she was in the medical wing of the DEO. She sighed, and rolled over. The pain in her chest caught up to her, and with it, the events of the past hours.

A clock on the wall told her she'd been asleep for at least an hour. She jumped out of the bed, a bit surprised that nobody stopped her, as they usually did.

Wandering through the DEO medical wing by herself, she finally saw a cracked door. She took a shaky breath, as she made her way to the door and pushed it open gently.

Though Alex had stitched many people up in the past, and had been confronted with gunshot wounds, severed limbs and gallons and gallons of spilled blood, her experience couldn't stop tears from rolling down her cheeks.

" _Hey, baby_ …" She whispered, as she walked into the room.

Maggie looked helpless and pale, but if Alex narrowed her eyes and toned out the machines and wires, she could almost pretend Maggie was sleeping.

Alex took Maggie's charts from the foot of her bed, and scanned through them. Every 10 minutes, her blood sugar levels were monitored. Her rates did indeed seem to be going up, they were almost back to normal.

Her fingers found her girlfriend's cold hand, and linked them together, kissing her on her forehead. "I love you. I love you so much, Maggie. You're perfect. This doesn't make you less perfect."

She was about to settle in next to her girlfriend's bed with a gentle squeeze in her hand, when the other woman emitted a quiet groan. To Alex, it was the most beautiful sound in the world. She jumped up, to carefully caress Maggie's face with her thumb. "That's it, baby. Open your eyes, I'm right here."

Slowly taking her time, Maggie opened her eyes, and looked around. Her eyes finally turned to Alex, and she smiled weakly. "Hey."

Alex chuckled, and felt another tear slip down her cheek. "Hey."

Maggie looked down at the IV connected to her hand, and grunted. "Passed out?"

"Yeah. After you saved me." Alex squeezed her hand again and smiled lovingly at her. "Like you always do."

Maggie managed a quick grin, before groaning. "I feel like I got hit by a truck."

"You have a concussion, from hitting the wall." Alex explained quietly, feeling like the moment was finally there. "Maggie, we need to talk."

"Not now." Maggie shook her head. "Please."

The agent opened her mouth to protest, but knew better than to argue with someone who'd just woken up from hours of unconsciousness. "Okay. Whenever you're ready." She gave her a quick kiss to the temple, but Maggie grunted. Alex understood what it meant, and leaned forward to capture Maggie's lips in a careful kiss.

"Good, you're awake."

Alex looked up to see doctor Hamilton entering the room. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better." Maggie said. Hamilton chuckled at the answer. "Seems like you and Alex both have a talent for lying to the wrong people."

"Yeah, it doesn't work on her." Alex said to her girlfriend. Maggie sighed. "I just want to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Well, with your levels going up I'd say you're doing well, but I still want to keep you here overnight for observation."

"No, please. I'm fine, I just really want to go home. There's no need."

"Maggie." Alex frowned at her behavior. "It's not a question, this is serious."

" _I'm_ serious, Danvers." Maggie snapped. The sound of her girlfriend using her last name made Alex wince. Maggie only said her last name when she was flirting, joking, or at work. But never between the two of them.

Hamilton eyed the pair, and then looked down at the chart on her clipboard. "It seems like your levels have been off for about a week now, though."

"That's impossible." Maggie shook her head. "I check at least five times a day."

"Then you'd know that you've been slightly hypoglycemic for days. Why didn't you do anything about it?"

"What?!" Maggie sat upright. Alex leaned forward to help her, but it was obvious that Maggie wasn't in the mood for getting help. "That's ridiculous. I've checked every day for the past ten years, I know when my levels are too low."

Alex settled for taking her hand in hers again, expecting Maggie to snap away. Instead, she clung to Alex' hand as if it were a lifeline. And with a jolt, Alex realized that Maggie was scared.

"Your blood sampler is probably malfunctioning."

Next to her, she felt the detective deflating, and sighing in relief. It was the most logical explanation, after all.

Alex was just glad there wasn't more to the case. She kissed Maggie's hand, and looked at her. "I'll be right back, Mags."

She got up and shot Hamilton a look that didn't ask questions. The doctor sighed, and walked out of the room with her.

"I can take her home and monitor her myself." Alex said. "She's scared, Amelia. She doesn't like hospitals. This is freaking her out."

"Alex." Hamilton looked her in the eyes. "She has every right to be scared. She was too close to slipping into a coma."

The agent took a deep breath. "I'll check her every 10 minutes, and keep you updated. And if something's wrong, I'll be the first person to take her back here, or to an actual hospital, okay?"

Hamilton sighed, and tried to protest, but grunted. "Yeah, okay, fine. You can take her home, but we still need to run some tests."

"Of course, yeah. I'll help you." Alex turned around to go back into the room, but Hamilton grabbed her arm. "Alex…"

She sighed, as Alex stared at her, waiting for her to continue. "I'll have Engineering take a look at her blood sampler. It's probably broken, and she can sue the manufacturer."

Alex nodded. "Keep me posted."

She reached forward and enveloped Hamilton in a hug. "Thank you, so much, Amelia. I'm sorry for being such a pain in the ass."

Hamilton laughed. "When are you ever not, Alex?" She pulled back. "Just be sure to take your painkillers too. Don't play hero for her."

"Wouldn't dare." Alex smiled at the doctor before heading back into Maggie's room.

"Guess what? You're coming home with me tonight."

Maggie looked up, her forehead creased with deep thought. "Alex, I swear I know how to monitor my levels, I don't… understand."

"Hey, it's okay." Alex took a seat next to her, and looked at her. "Don't worry about it, it was just a freak thing."

Maggie sighed, and looked down. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

She glanced up to meet her girlfriend's eyes. "Are you okay?"

Alex nodded, and kissed Maggie's knuckles again. "Better now that I'm with you."


	4. Chapter 4

The front door to her apartment creaked as Alex pushed it open, helping a slightly stumbling Maggie Sawyer inside.

"Lay down on the couch, I'll go get you something to eat."

"Alex, I'm fine." Maggie protested. "I've been lying down for hours now, I want to do something."

"The only thing you're doing today is resting." Alex glared at her in full doctor-mode. "Besides, I need to monitor you every 10 minutes."

"I can do that myself, Danvers." Maggie sighed. "I don't get why you're being like this."

"Why _I'm_ being like this? Look at yourself, you can barely stand upright, why are you too stubborn to realize that you need help today?!"

Maggie looked away from her girlfriend's gaze, but Alex wasn't stopping any time soon. "And we still need to have that talk about why the hell you would keep something like that from me, because I'm not exactly thrilled about that! We promised no more secrets and look where it lead!"

"Alex…" Maggie came carefully close, almost touching noses with Alex. But instead of being a loving gesture, like Alex was used to, she saw the fire in Maggie's eyes. "Back off. Now."

"Maggie, what the hell!" Alex stepped back involuntarily, slightly terrified of how the situation was escalating. "I'm just trying to help you!"

"Well, you're not helping." Maggie spit. "You're breathing down my neck, I told you I'd tell you when I'm ready!"

Alex chuckled humorlessly. "And when is that? When you're lying in a ditch somewhere at CADMUS because nobody knows you're sick?!"

Instead of the response Alex anticipated – Maggie punching her in the face and leaving – she witnessed Maggie opening her mouth to answer, only to promptly burst into tears and drop down onto the couch dejectedly.

Alex's stomach jumped at the sight, and she took a careful seat next to her girlfriend, wrapping her arms around her. "I'm sorry, Mags. I didn't mean to-… I'm sorry."

The only thing Maggie did was sob, and hold onto Alex as if she were the only thing keeping her above water.

Alex rubbed her back, and kissed her temple, and whispered soft reassurances, until Maggie's sobs faded away and made room for sleep.

The agent carefully lowered her girlfriend onto the couch, making sure she wouldn't wake her up, and caressed her hand.

Now that she knew the truth, the puncturing scars on Maggie's fingers were painfully obvious. She rubbed the tips of her fingers, and kissed them. "I'm going to take care of you. Forever, Maggie."

When her back started protesting the weird angle she was bent in to accommodate her girlfriend's slumber, she untangled herself and got up. She made her way to the kitchen and started cooking something that she made sure had enough sugar in it.

A few minutes later, the alarm on her watch beeped. She paused her cooking and went to the plastic bag she'd brought from the DEO med lab. She took the lancet from its case and set it to a proper puncturing depth.

She grabbed Maggie's right index finger, and kept an eye on her face as she pressed the tip of the lancet to her finger until she drew blood. Maggie winced, and Alex sighed as she saw that she'd woken her up. "I'm sorry."

"'S okay… What time is it?"

Alex took the sampler from the plastic bag and put Maggie's blood into it. "Almost nine. You only slept for ten minutes, but I had to test."

"Yeah." Maggie watched her silently as she wrote down the number onto a clipboard on the counter. "So, doc, am I going to live?"

Alex stared at her, and Maggie sighed, realizing that she shouldn't have made the joke. "I'm sorry, Alex."

The agent's hands trembled slightly as she put the pen down. "I don't want to lose you."

"You won't." Maggie reassured. "Just like I don't want to lose you to bullet wounds. This isn't any different."

"But it is." Alex insisted, but stayed careful in case her words started another argument. Maggie looked down, and took a shaky breath. "My parents. They, uh… They couldn't afford the things that came with this."

Alex looked up at her, frowning. Maggie knew she had to elaborate. "When I was diagnosed, I was 15. My parents didn't have the money to buy the monitoring equipment. It wasn't in their health plan, and we were too poor to upgrade."

Alex didn't like where her explanation was going, but settled on listening quietly and giving Maggie the space to tell her story. "One day I was at school and I collapsed. My parents felt bad, but I felt worse. I… I don't know, I guess 15-year old me didn't want to hurt my parents even more than I already did by punching the money from their pockets."

Alex finally opened her mouth to interject, but Maggie raised her hand. "I got a part-time job after school, and I finally bought my stuff. My parents aren't bad people. They just didn't have the money to take care of it. So I don't make it other people's problem, Alex. I can take care of myself."

"Just because you can, doesn't mean you have to." Alex whispered. "You have me. I love you, and I'm not going anywhere. You knew I wouldn't judge you, why would you possibly think that I wouldn't accept this?!"

Maggie wiped at the tears pouring out of her eyes. "You have Kara to worry about. I don't want you to worry about me. I shouldn't be another person on the list of people you have to take care of."

Alex grabbed Maggie's cheeks, and forced the detective to look at her. "Maggie Sawyer, you made that list the second you decided to be with me. This doesn't change that."

Leaning forward, Alex captured Maggie's lips in a kiss that she hoped would convey every emotion she felt at that moment. Love, fear, anger, hurt, happiness…

Maggie still clung to her as she reciprocated the kiss and held her close.

The moment was interrupted by Alex' phone ringing. The two women sighed, and pulled away. Alex reached for her phone and pressed it to her ear. "Danvers."

"Hey, Alex." It was Hamilton's voice.

"Hey." Alex greeted her back. "What's up?"

"Engineering analyzed the device." Hamilton sighed. "Alex, you need to come over here."

Alex's stomach dropped again, and she turned away from Maggie so that her girlfriend wouldn't see the fear on her face. "Why?"

"It's not good."

Alex nodded, before realizing that Amelia couldn't see her. "Okay, I'm on my way."

She disconnected the call and turned to Maggie, who was looking at her with a frown.

"Work. Something about an alien." Alex decided to keep her story as vague as possible. "I'll only be gone about an hour."

Maggie smiled weakly, and kissed her again. "I'll be fine. I'll write down the numbers like you did."

"As soon as something's wrong, call me, okay?!" Alex looked at her. "I'm serious."

"You got it, doctor Danvers."

Alex grabbed her keys and gun from the counter, and felt the dread creeping in as she made her way to the DEO.


	5. Chapter 5

Agent Alex Danvers took big steps into the DEO command center, in the hopes of at least appearing composed, as opposed to the panic she was feeling in her gut.

Hamilton sounded serious on the phone. Grave, even. Twelve hours ago she couldn't have possibly imagined ending up in this situation, but then again – the job wasn't exactly 9 to 5 and built on security and stability.

In the command center, she saw Winn sitting at his desk talking to Kara. She took a step in her sister's direction, but decided against it. Knowing her, Kara felt as bad as Alex did for not noticing something was wrong.

Instead, she walked to the medical wing, hoping to find Hamilton there.

She met her in the hallway, folders and charts underneath her arm. "Alex!"

"I came as fast as I could." Alex took a shaky breath. "I can't be away from her for too long."

Hamilton sighed. "Alex, there..." She trailed off.

"What? Come on, Hamilton…" She wasn't in the mood for dramatic pausing.

"…There was a chip embedded into the sampler. Something… Fishy."

The agent waited impatiently for the doctor to continue.

"The readings she got on the display were incorrect. It showed her rates as too high, so that she'd inject insulin. But her rates were normal, so she ended up lowering her blood sugar to the point she could have slipped into a coma."

Alex rubbed her fingers together, trying not to react visibly to the fear that was settling inside. "So… What? How? I mean…" She was trying to make sense of it all.

"There shouldn't be any permanent damage, Alex. Her rates are back to normal. But it worries me… I think somebody messed with the device."

Alex' mind started racing. Who would hurt Maggie? Did she have enemies? But even if she did…

"Who would go to such a length to sabotage her? I mean, if people wanted to hurt her, why play the long game?"

"Maybe it's somebody close to her? A colleague? Somebody that can't exactly go around shooting other cops?" Hamilton theorized. "In any case, Alex, this is serious. Somebody wants to hurt her."

The agent's hands clenched into fists, as she realized that she'd done exactly what they wanted her to do. _Leave Maggie by herself._

"Shit… I need to go back to her. They could have… Somebody could have done something to her." Alex said, before taking off in a sprint toward the exit of the building.

As she raced through the command center, she saw J'onn, Kara and Winn turning around and frowning, but she didn't have the time or patience to respond to their calls. She needed to be with her girlfriend.

Her girlfriend, who could have died.

Her girlfriend, who could have been seriously hurt.

Who didn't know any better, and was terrified out of her mind, because she didn't even realize something was wrong with her rates.

She got back into her car and raced to her apartment, all but sprinting up the stairs and shoving the door open, and half expecting Maggie to lie on the ground, a bullet in her back or a knife through her chest.

Instead, she found the detective sitting upright at her counter, using her laptop. Though she did jump at the noise Alex made upon bursting through the door.

"Jesus…" Maggie put a hand on her chest. "That's two years off my life, Danvers."

"Are you okay?" Alex said, putting her keys down and looking at her girlfriend with a worried frown. Maggie nodded, and closed the laptop. "I borrowed your laptop, I hope that's alright. I had to check my emails."

"That's fine…" Alex commented off-handedly. "Did you check?"

"Every 10 minutes, like you asked." Maggie said, handing her the clipboard. "All normal. Dipped a little low about 10 minutes ago, so I grabbed a drink. How was the alien?"

It took Alex a second to realize that she was asking about the trip to the DEO. "Oh, uh… Yeah. Everything alright. Nothing out of the ordinary."

Maggie stared at her intensely, as if she knew that Alex was lying, but then sighed. "I'm sorry, Alex. I've been such an idiot throughout all of this… I…. I should have told you."

"I get it, Mags." Alex took a seat next to her. "I think I'd have done the same thing in your shoes."

Maggie smiled weakly. "I don't want any more secrets between the two of us."

Alex shook her head, but then felt the familiar feeling creep back into her chest. The conversation with Hamilton. The tampering with her sampler…

She decided quickly that Maggie was already too scared to be confronted with a possible murder plot. Instead she wanted to keep an eye on the detective at all times, until she had a reasonable lead on the case.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Maggie asked, looking her in the eyes. "You alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. I was kind of hoping we could do a movie night."

"Hmm…" Maggie frowned. "I mean, I'd rather just go home, Alex."

"You can't." Alex stated, as if the mere thought of her leaving was ridiculous. "I promised Hamilton I'd take care of you."

"Well, I mean, my rates are back to normal. So it's fine."

"Be that as it may, Maggie, I still want to keep an eye on you." She hesitated, but decided to play her ace card anyway. "I could have lost you, Maggie… Can we please just… Be together tonight?"

Maggie's gaze softened, and she wrapped an arm around Alex. "Of course, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-…" She sighed. "This is about you too."

"You can pick the movie. We can eat vegan ice cream… I-if you can, I mean. If…" Alex trailed off nervously when she saw the annoyed glare Maggie was giving her. "Right, sorry. Treating you like normal. My bad."

"Vegan ice cream sounds _delicious_." Maggie smirked. "I'll take you up on that. But before that, let's grab a beer. I need one. And I also…" She wrapped her arms around Alex' neck. "… Need you."

She smiled, and leaned in for a kiss. Alex reciprocated, but pulled away after a while. "Can we stay here? I have beer."

She felt Maggie nod, and wrapped her arms around the detective, pulling her into a hug. "I love you, so much, Maggie."

"I love you too, you dork." Maggie laughed.

As she pulled back to head to the fridge to grab two beers, Alex took a deep breath. At least for tonight, nothing could happen to her. Tonight, she was hers.

She felt sorry for whoever it was that was threatening Maggie Sawyer. Because they obviously hadn't seen Alex Danvers angry. Though, she hoped, they were going to soon.


	6. Chapter 6

The digital clock on her watch told Alex that it was way too late to lie awake. She was on her back, lying in her own bed, with her girlfriend curled close, her leg propped up against hers, and staring at the ceiling.

Maggie was sleeping, and Alex was glad. But sleep seemed to have escaped her completely. She couldn't stop the train of thoughts that had been racing through her mind ever since their movie night was transported to the bed, and Maggie had fallen into a soothing slumber.

Her painkillers were staring to wear off, and the ache in her ribs returned. Alex sighed, and carefully tried to untangle herself from Maggie, who was clinging to every inch of Alex she could grab. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she finally managed to scoot away from the detective, and support the sore ribs with her hand as she got up.

Her plan failed, however, when she heard Maggie sigh behind her. "Mmhm… Alex…?"

Alex turned around, and winced at the sight of her girlfriend's eyes opening and staring at her wearily. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"'S alright." Maggie smiled, but it morphed into a frown when she saw the way Alex was holding her ribs. "You okay? Your ribs?"

"Just sore. Meds are wearing off. I'm going to go take some more."

"M'kay." Maggie closed her eyes again, trying to go back to sleep. Alex stayed at the foot of the bed for a few seconds, just watching her. Maggie looked absolutely perfect, even without make-up and half asleep.

But Alex' heart was heavy. She knew she had to tell Maggie about what Hamilton discovered, because lying to her not only felt wrong, but could also potentially be more dangerous. At least if Maggie was aware of what was happening, she'd be more alert and aware of her surroundings.

She walked over to her counter and grabbed the bottle of painkillers she'd taken from work. Seeing the sheet Maggie and her had made for Maggie's blood sugar rates made her fret even more.

Lying down on the couch with the two of them almost made Alex forget that this was probably only the beginning of the whole situation. She needed to find whoever was behind this, though she had a big hunch where the plan originated from.

CADMUS.

Alex and Maggie were often spotted together with Supergirl, so it would make sense that those assholes would finally shift their focus onto Maggie. To lower her rates to the point where she'd pass out, not be able to do her job.

Or maybe Alex was the target after all, and they were trying to break her by breaking Maggie. As far as she was concerned, their plan was working. Alex couldn't think about anything but the detective currently sleeping in her bed.

Maggie would at least be benched for another 24 hours, even though she protested it. Alex was worried, but also realized that Maggie was used to this situation, so if it were up to her, the detective could go back to work. However, she knew that doctor's orders were undeniable. And Hamilton had given her strict orders to stay home another day.

Tomorrow, Alex decided, she'd go to Maggie's precinct and talk to her boss. Of course she had to be careful, since anybody at her work could be the mole. Her next stop would be the DEO. Since Maggie was spending some more time there lately, it was entirely possible. It would also explain why CADMUS was always one step ahead of them whenever they tried a raid. Lastly, she'd have to look into Maggie's friends and private life; the tricky part.

She knew that Maggie didn't have a lot of friends, that she was kind of a loner. But somebody at the bar could have easily done something if she wasn't looking.

Realizing that the number of suspects was incredibly high, she decided she needed help. Somebody who was good at getting information from people. A reporter. She sent a text to Kara that she needed to meet her for lunch tomorrow, and headed back to bed.

The next day, Alex got up early. She untangled herself from Maggie again – she'd never dared to guess that the detective was a total clinger in bed – and grabbed a glass of juice from her fridge.

Logging in to the DEO server, she glanced at her inbox and saw a report from one of the other agents about yesterday's raid. She flagged it for later reading, but before she could continue, she heard a creaking in the hardwood floor. She looked up to see Maggie walking towards her and taking a seat at the counter next to her.

"Morning." Maggie smiled, as she gave Alex a quick kiss on the lips. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah." Alex smiled back quickly. "You?"

Maggie nodded. She leaned over to grab the lancet, and – quick as a flash – drew a drop of blood to put in the sampler. "Work today?"

"Clean-up and paperwork, mostly." Alex said off-handedly, transfixed by the way Maggie seemed so experienced in the whole thing. Maggie noticed Alex' staring, and smirked. "Something wrong?"

"No, just… Getting used to it."

The two of them waited for the device to give a _beep_ , and when it did, Maggie looked at the display and hummed vaguely. She reached into the bag to grab a syringe, carefully filled it with insulin, and winced as she jammed the needle into her stomach.

"So, uh…" Alex cleared her throat. "What are you going to do today?"

"Well, since everybody seems to be on my ass about not going to work, I assume I'm going to watch some bad cop shows, go for a jog and read through some alien intel Winn gave me yesterday." Maggie tucked away her equipment.

"And-" Alex started, but Maggie rolled her eyes. "…-And I'll call you when something's wrong, yeah. I know the drill, Danvers."

Alex smirked, gave Maggie a quick peck and walked to her closet to change.

After driving Maggie back to her place and making sure she was settled in, the agent set a course for the detective's precinct. She remembered that Maggie always talked about her boss with a lot of respect, obviously the man must mean a great deal to her.

She walked to the receptionist and smiled warmly at her. "Hello, ma'am. I'm a friend of Maggie Sawyer's, and I need to speak to her boss."

"Sawyer." The receptionist looked at her. "From the Sci-division? Third floor, second door to the right."

After thanking the woman, Alex walked up the stairs to the third floor, and knocked on the door to the office.

"Come in." A scruffy voice said. Alex opened the door, and smiled politely at the man in front of her. He seemed to be in his fifties, and Alex was sure she'd seen him at the DEO at least once. He narrowed his eyes at her as soon as she walked in, so the recognition must be mutual.

"Hello, sir. Sorry for disturbing you. I'm Alex Danvers."

"Aha." The man nodded, shaking her hand. "Danvers. You're DEO."

Alex smiled. She felt more at ease knowing that she didn't have to pretend she was FBI in front of the man. He managed a lopsided smirk. "Rick Cooper."

"Mister Cooper, I'm here to talk about Maggie Sawyer."

Cooper looked at her, expecting her to elaborate.

Alex sighed. "Did you know she has diabetes?"

"Of course I do, she's an officer in my division." Cooper said. "She doesn't make it other people's problem, though. And it hasn't interfered with her work."

"Well, I'm her girlfriend, and I only got to know yesterday."

Cooper shrugged. "That's Sawyer for you. That woman's got a lot of skeletons in her closet. But she's one hell of a cop, so I'd like to keep her around."

Alex took a seat so she'd be at eye-level with the man. "We discovered that somebody tampered with her monitoring equipment, possibly to kill her."

Cooper leaned back, apparently shocked by the news. "Damn…"

"Maybe it's somebody at work here, that has access to her equipment. Do you have a list of those?"

"Well, I don't think it could be anybody outside of the science division, and there's only five agents, so that narrows it down."

Alex nodded. "Could I come by later today to get that list?"

"Yeah, of course." Cooper nodded. "Happy to help. But agent Danvers, the science division is tight-knit. I honestly have faith and trust in every one of my officers, so I highly doubt anybody in my division would attempt to kill Sawyer."

"it could be something else. They could be getting blackmailed. I… I don't know how deep it goes."

Cooper seemed to think about the statement, before sighing. "I'll keep an eye on her as soon as she comes back to work."

Alex handed the man her business card with her phone number. "Call me, please, if you get anything. And I'd appreciate it if this could stay between the two of us. My colleagues don't know about it either, I can't rule anybody out."

"Understood. Always happy to work with the Feds." Cooper grunted, but Alex could see that there was no fire in his eyes about it.

"Thank you, mister Cooper." Alex nodded gratefully.

The man nodded. "No problem. Just want to see her safe. She's a damn fine cop."

Alex smiled weakly, and left, pulling her phone to her ear. "Hey, Kara? Lunch, yeah, Noonans. I'll be right there."


	7. Chapter 7

Alex wasn't at all surprised that upon entering Noonan's, she immediately spotted Kara at the counter, laughing along with the barista she was ordering from.

Cat Grant's legacy had been many things, but every single employee at Noonan's knowing her sister's name was definitely a milestone. As Kara spotted her entrance, she waved enthusiastically with a sandwich and two take-out coffees. "That's her!"

"Oh geez, what did you tell her?" Alex said, stepping closer to the barista, who seemed to be eyeing her with an amused twinkle.

Kara smiled, and turned to the girl once again. "Alex, this is Ciara. I was telling her about you and Maggie!"

"Me and Maggie what?" Alex smiled politely at the barista, before turning back to her sister, who took a sip of her coffee and smirked. "That you're together! Maggie's a regular here."

"Is she now?"

The barista, Ciara, nodded. "Yeah, she comes here all the time. You know, cops and their donuts. Didn't know she had a girlfriend though, she seemed to be hitting on me a lot."

Alex' eyes narrowed at the woman, but when Kara started laughing, she realized it had been a joke. Ciara grinned. "Sorry, couldn't help myself."

"I already ordered your usual, by the way." Kara held up the extra takeaway cup. "I thought we could go for a walk? The weather's too nice to sit here."

"Yeah, sure." Alex smiled at the barista once again. "Nice to meet you, Ciara."

"You too, Alex."

Kara waved goodbye and lead the way out the door. Alex took her coffee and sipped it with a sigh. "Kara, we need to talk."

"About what?"

The pair walked through the street aimlessly, as Alex tried to figure out how to explain the situation to her sister. Finally, she cleared her throat. "Uh… It's about Maggie."

"Okay…? Is she alright? I mean, besides the obvious…" Kara trailed off nervously, looking her sister in the eyes.

"Someone did this to her." Alex said, trying her best to keep the anger out of her voice, because saying it out loud somehow made it even worse. "… Somebody planted a bug into her equipment so she'd hurt herself."

Kara's eyes widened, and Alex could almost hear the gears turning in her head. She seemed as angry about the fact as Alex herself was, and that somehow gave her a sense of security. At least she'd have an ally.

"Who? I mean, do you know?!" Kara's hands tightened into fists. Alex shook her head. "No clue. But my gut tells me CADMUS has something to do with it."

"Of course…" Kara grunted. "It all makes sense. So… Somebody's a mole?"

Alex shrugged. "I don't know where to start. That's why I didn't want to do it alone."

"You have me." Kara nodded decisively. "I'm with you, 100 percent."

Alex smiled weakly. "Thanks. That's good to hear."

"Did you tell her?"

A beat of silence. Alex took a shaky breath, and bit her lip. "I'm scared to tell her. I'm scared that… That she's going to shut me out, and put up walls…"

"Hey, no." Kara shook her head. "She loves you. She knows that you want to help. And if you tell her, she might know something. Maybe someone that seemed suspicious, or at least whoever handles her equipment besides her."

Alex nodded, knowing perfectly well that the situation absolutely required for her to know whatever Maggie knew. Yet the uncertain feeling in the pit of her stomach didn't go away at the thought of it.

Kara hummed. "Okay, so, what do you have right now?"

"The police precinct, the alien bar, and the DEO."

"I'll try to get something from the DEO. I have to swing by later anyway for a patrol." Kara thought for a second. "Though I'm highly doubtful anybody in the DEO knows she has diabetes."

"We can't be sure. CADMUS has been one step ahead of us every time now, who's to say we don't have a mole?"

"Mmhm." Kara nodded. "You're right… It makes sense. Can I tell J'onn about your plan?"

"He's the only one besides Winn at the DEO that I trust. Winn might be able to help with the tech part, so I think we're going to need them both anyway." Alex decided.

"Okay…" Kara frowned at her sister. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Alex smiled. _Always so selfless._ "No, I'm fine. Well, I mean, I will be, once this is over."

Kara pulled her into a hug, careful not to spill any coffee on either of them. "We'll get them. She'll be good as new."

Alex nodded, and after they said their goodbyes, started walking into the direction of the alien bar. It was odd seeing it in daylight, as she wasn't used to coming to this part of town during her shift. She was technically still out of duty until the afternoon, as J'onn had ensured her that her cracked ribs needed more time than just one evening to heal, and she was benched for field work for at least three more days.

Though normally, Alex would complain at the lack of action and excitement in the prospect of paperwork, it felt good to know that she could focus her attention on Maggie's situation.

As she entered the bar, she decided to play it cool and headed to the bartender to order a beer. She had a look around, but none of the aliens looked particularly shady or like they had something to hide. If anything, during the day it almost seemed like a regular bar to hang out at.

The beer was placed in front of her, and she slapped a few dollar bills down, when her phone rang. She grabbed it from her pocket and saw that it was Maggie.

Her stomach jolted as she hurried to pick up. "Hey, is everything okay?!"

"You need to come. Right now."

Alex frowned, and she was already halfway out of the bar before answering. "Why? What happened? Are you okay?!"

"Now."

She hung up. Alex stared at her phone for a second in absolute confusion, when she finally processed the call. Maggie sounded emotional, her voice creaked. Something had clearly happened to her…

Alex sprinted to the street, and thanked her lucky stars that Maggie's apartment was at a walking distance from the bar. She raced up the stairs, and sped through the hallway, toward Maggie's door.

When she yanked it open, her eyes widened.


	8. Chapter 8

"Maggie?! What's going on?!" Alex was shocked at the sight of the detective sitting at the counter holding her gun that was currently pointed to Alex' face.

Her first response was to raise her hands. She knew better than to think that Maggie was actually going to shoot her, but Maggie's face showed nothing but hatred.

"What. Did. You. Do." Maggie sneered at her with a fire in her eyes that Alex had never seen directed towards her.

"I… What?" Alex was taken aback by the whole situation. She'd honestly expected anything but this. She carefully took a step into Maggie's direction, but didn't want to make a wrong move either.

"Why did I just get a call from my boss that he's going to 'make sure I'm safe' and that 'this won't change the way he thinks about me'?" Maggie whispered it, but the anger in her voice was undeniable. "What did you do?!"

"Maggie… Listen to me." Alex said. "Put the gun down."

"Tell me. Now." She waved the gun empathically. In that moment, Alex got absolutely terrified that the situation was taking a turn for the worst. She raised her hands, and remained nailed to the ground as she looked her girlfriend in the eyes. "I had to talk to your boss, because something happened while you were out."

Maggie was breathing heavily, but showed no signs of lowering the firearm.

Alex continued. "Somebody has it out for you. They know you're diabetic, and they manipulated your levels to make you think you were okay."

Maggie's eyes were glazed with tears, and she finally allowed one to slip to her cheek. "I… I knew it…" She whispered.

The agent's stomach somersaulted again. "What are you talking about?"

"I felt… Sick. I thought it was just the flu or…" She trailed off. "But I knew it had something to do with my levels."

"Why didn't you _do_ something?" Alex whispered hopelessly, tired of seeing the detective hurt just because she was too stubborn to reach out to anyone.

Maggie looked down for a second, before lowering the gun still pointed at her girlfriend. "You think whoever's trying to kill me is at work?"

"I can't rule anything out." Alex sighed. "I'm sorry, I… This isn't the way I pictured me telling you."

Maggie seemed to think about something, before her eyes widened. "There was a note."

"Note? What note?"

"In my bag… A few days ago…" Maggie reached for her cellphone. "I took a picture of it. It was just a prank, I thought…"

She flipped the phone to Alex to show a photo of a yellow post-it with one line of text on it written in sharpie.

_Checkmate, Sawyer._

"This has to be from whoever did it." Alex zoomed in on the handwriting, but couldn't decipher anything about it. "When did you get this?"

"Last Thursday, I think. I saw it when I came back to my apartment."

"And where did you go on Thursday? Who did you talk to?!"

"I... I…" Maggie clenched her eyes shut, trying to remember. "I had a case. Uh… I was at the station, and then I went out in the field to round up a suspect, interrogated him, and then I went home, and you came over."

Alex nodded, remembering their date night together. Nothing had seemed off about the detective in any way. "You need to make a list of all the people that could have accessed your equipment."

"But it's not somebody in my unit. They wouldn't do that."

"Unless someone forced them to." Alex said dryly. "We're not ruling anybody out."

"Alex." Maggie shot back. "I trust those guys with my life. I've put my ass on the line for them, and they'd do the same for me. They're clean."

"And if they aren't?! I'm not going to risk you getting hurt or worse just because of your ideals. We know CADMUS is capable of-…" Alex bit her tongue, realizing her mistake immediately. Maggie's eyes widened. "CADMUS? You're… CADMUS is after me?"

Alex turned around. "We don't know that for sure."

"But you do." Maggie took a shaky breath, processing the information. "Well, I mean, that's it, right?"

Alex spun around again to face her. "What do you mean, that's it?"

"If CADMUS wants me dead…" Maggie plopped back down onto the stool dejectedly. "We can't stop them."

"What the hell?!" Alex jumped up. "No! Jesus, Maggie, I don't even recognize you anymore! We're going to get through this, we're going to find whoever did this to you and I'm going to make sure they're going to pay for what they did!"

"I need to be alone right now." Maggie sighed. "Please go."

"I'm not leaving you when you're like this." Alex shook her head, eyeing the gun in the detective's lap. She didn't like the worst case scenario her mind was currently making up.

"Leave, Danvers. I'm not going to ask again nicely."

"Ask however the hell you want, I'm not abandoning you." Alex shot back.

"If you don't get the fuck out of here right now… Alex, _it's you_!" Maggie yelled, finally losing her patience. "They're doing this to get in your head, they're doing this because you care about me!"

"So what…?" Alex whispered back, feeling tears brim in her eyes.

Maggie looked down, her own tears falling freely. "I don't know what they want with you, but I don't want to be the reason they capture you, or torture you, or _kill_ you. So leave." She wiped angrily at her cheeks with the back of her hand. "I'll handle this. I'll find the asshole that tampered with my stuff, and I'll put a bullet in the back of their head. I swear. But you're not getting roped into this. Over my dead body."

"Maggie, please…" Alex tried to reason, but it seemed that the detective had made up her mind.

"Al, you said yourself that I was on the list of people you cared about. Well, my list is much shorter than yours. And you're in the top spot, I know I can't beat your sister on yours."

Alex opened her mouth to argue, but Maggie continued nonetheless. "But if you care about me like I care about you, you'll walk out of here right now, and don't look back until this is over."

Time seemed to slow down, as Alex realized that she had to make a choice. And either one would mean sacrifice. Either decision would mean heartbreak. But neither could really keep Maggie safe.

She felt herself turn on her heels and walk out the door. And before it closed, she heard a sob behind her.

As she stumbled out of Maggie's apartment building, she pressed her phone to her ear once again.

If Maggie didn't want her helping her, she'd do it herself. But she'd be damned if she let anybody put their hands on her girlfriend again.


	9. Chapter 9

"What do we know?"

Alex walked into the DEO briskly, refusing to show the heartbreak she currently felt. On her way to work she'd cried, but only in the privacy of her own car. Right now she had to be Agent Alex Danvers, and keep it professional.

Kara, in her Supergirl outfit, walked over to her, lowering her voice. "DEO was a bust. Nobody here knows, J'onn didn't even know. And pretty much none of the other agents came in contact with Maggie."

"It _has_ to be somebody at the precinct. It makes sense." Alex frowned. "I need to talk to the other people in her unit."

"Did you tell her?" Kara asked. "Is she going to help?"

"She… uh…" Alex sighed. "She's scared. She's shutting me out. And I… I don't know how to help her."

Kara's face softened, and she put a careful hand on her sister's shoulder, but Alex shrugged it off. "Not here. I need solutions, Kara. A plan. She's not going to like me digging around at the police station."

"You, no. But say… hypothetically speaking… I had to write an article about the efficiency of the NCPD… I could probably get some people to talk."

Alex nodded slowly. "It could work. But if Maggie catches you…"

"Catches? I'm just doing my job as a reporter." Kara smiled weakly. "It'll be alright, I promise. She can't stay mad at you for protecting her."

Alex pulled Kara into a hug, and closed her eyes. She needed her sister right now, more than ever. The emotional rollercoaster the last 24 hours had been was nothing short of surreal.

Maggie was scared. Alex knew it well enough. She put up her walls to protect Alex instead of herself. And Alex knew that she'd have done the exact same thing had it been her. But it didn't make the situation any better.

The only way to solve the problem was to find out what happened, and fast, before whoever was behind it tried something else.

* * *

Maggie took off her helmet and jumped off her bike with a little less elegance than she'd hoped. Her head was still pounding, both from the concussion and the confrontation she had with Alex, and it provided a great distraction.

Since she couldn't go back to work for at least another day, she figured a drink wouldn't hurt to mull things over by herself.

Alex' words still echoed through her mind. CADMUS. Of course, it couldn't have been anybody else out for her, she wasn't at all that interesting. A pro-alien cop. Only CADMUS would see her with a target on her back.

She knew how she'd treated Alex. She'd seen the heartbreak in the agent's eyes. But if it meant keeping Alex safe, Maggie would have gone to the end of the world to stay away from her.

She couldn't bear the thought of something happening to Alex by her own hands.

She put her helmet on the bar, and motioned for the bartender to get her a drink. She honestly didn't care what they gave her, as long as it was strong enough to hopefully make her forget everything that happened.

 _Lillian fucking Luthor_.

Maggie vowed to herself that the next time she'd see the woman, she'd break her.

A voice behind her calling her name made her turn around, one hand instinctively reaching down to her thigh, where her gun holster was resting.

Though she relaxed when she saw it was Kara, in her civilian clothes, she realized immediately why she was there.

"What is it, Kara?" She turned back to her drink.

"I'm not here to fight." Kara said, taking a seat on the stool next to her. "I came to talk."

"Talk away." Maggie shot back sarcastically, taking another sip of her glass. "But if it's about Alex, I'm not interested."

"Do you realize what you're doing?" Kara asked her, looking at the detective's face. Maggie looked down.

"I'm well aware, yeah. Breaking her heart, making sure she never trusts me again, making her think that I don't care about her feelings." Maggie laughed humorlessly. "What else is new, right? This is the way it always ends."

"This is _not_ how it's going to end, Maggie. Alex is out there looking for that CADMUS mole, whether you want her to or not. So you can't exactly expect her to stay out of danger." Kara shifted closer. "And let me tell you something. I love my sister to death, and I'd do anything to keep her safe. The only person who is hurting her right now, is you, by shutting her out."

"What do you propose, Kara?" Maggie looked her in the eyes now. "Letting Alex help me so CADMUS can capture both of us, and torture her? I have to do this alone to make sure the two of you, or anyone for that matter, don't get caught in the crossfire."

"Are you _really_ that big of an egomaniac that you think everything revolves around you here?!" Kara shot back, crossing her arms. "The DEO has been out looking for CADMUS for months now. This is just another one of their plans."

"Yeah, well, it's one that just might work, Danvers." Maggie grunted. "And you two know it."

Kara took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. "Look. Alex doesn't know I came here. She thinks I'm talking to your unit, to try and get something out of them."

Maggie looked up again, frowning at the confession. Kara continued. "But you and I both know how Alex gets when she's scared for somebody else. She's going to take a stupid risk, like walking into CADMUS herself to keep you safe. And I don't want that. So the three of us need to work together to find this guy, instead of fighting over 'who's protecting whom from what', okay?"

Maggie swallowed thickly at the thought of Alex, guns blazing and running into CADMUS headquarters. "Y-You're right."

Kara sighed in relief at that. "Good. Okay, so we need to regroup. Tonight, my place."

Maggie nodded, and downed the rest of her glass. Kara hopped off the barstool and looked at her with a sad smile. "You're like my sister too, Maggie. We're a family. We look out for each other. You're never alone again."

The words touched Maggie more than the detective expected. Kara gave her a quick hug, before walking out of the bar, leaving her by herself.

Maggie turned back to the glass in front of her, swirling the ice cubes around. She had work to do.

* * *

She was losing it.

The self-control she'd worked so hard for.

But it didn't matter, as long as she got her answers.

So by the seventh punch, when she'd felt more than one bone break underneath her fingers, Alex shoved the alien against the wall of the alley she was in, and leaned in, so their faces were almost touching.

"I'm not going to ask you again." She whispered lowly, threateningly. "Tell me what happened on Thursday with that cop!"

"I didn't do anything!" The alien shot back, attempting to get out of her grip, but she grabbed him by the collar once again. "I'll kill you, I swear to all the Gods you've ever believed in. If you don't start talking, you'll never see daylight again."

"Fuck you!"

Another punch to the face. The alien recoiled, and slid down the wall, moaning helplessly. Alex stared at her knuckles, sensing by the pulsing feeling in her hand that the blood on them didn't just belong to him.

"Tell me!" Alex yelled, kicking him in the ribs until he curled up weakly. "Okay, okay!" He raised his hands. "I'll tell you everything, please!"

"Better." She stepped back, and allowed him to crawl up on his knees, before slowly stumbling to his feet. "She arrested me on Third street. I put up a fight, but she got me. And she brought me to the police station, and I _swear_ I didn't do it! She let me go!"

Alex tried to keep her face hard, but the sound of his pleading made her realize that the man wasn't guilty at all, just terrified out of his mind.

Without another look she turned around and walked out of the alley, tucking her hands into her sleeves so nobody would notice her bleeding knuckles.

As she walked to her car, she hoped at least that Kara had better news.


	10. Chapter 10

"Here's the facts." Kara said, reading from the notepad in her hands. "We know that Maggie's equipment was tampered with on Thursday. We also know that the list of people that are aware of the condition are pretty much all at the police station. So that narrows it down."

Maggie sighed, rubbing the back of her head. She was all too aware of the way Alex's leg was pressed up against her on Kara's sofa, and the whole situation was making her head hurt.

She knew that Alex felt her distress, but apparently the agent knew better than to interrupt their meeting with her concern for her girlfriend. A fact Maggie was silently thankful for. She cleared her throat, and nodded. "Yeah. So, the only cops in the precinct who know about it are Cooper and the four other detectives in the science division."

"And who are they?" Kara asked.

Maggie sighed. "There's Jack McConnell, we work together a lot. He's a good guy. Grumpy, but does the right thing. Then there's Emilio Rossi, early sixties, he's going to retire soon. Eric Shaw, he's the newbie. Fresh out the uniform. And then there's Taylor Lewis. We went to the academy together, she's a good friend of mine."

" _She_?"

It was the first thing Alex had said throughout their meeting, and immediately the tension in the room became tangible. Kara opened her mouth to wave away the awkwardness, but Maggie turned to Alex with a nod. "Yeah. She. Something wrong with that?"

"I mean… You never told me there was another woman in the science division." Alex frowned. Maggie shrugged slowly. "I guess I didn't really see it as a huge shock, since – you know – I'm a woman too."

"Okay, well…" Kara finally jumped in. "You two can gossip all about your BFF's after this, alright? So those five names, McConnell, Rossi, Shaw, Lewis and Cooper."

"Pretty much, yeah." Maggie nodded. "Except for Lewis, she had a day off on Thursday. I mean, if it even was one of those other three... Honestly, Kara, I trust those people for everything I have."

"And I respect that. But _I_ don't."

Alex shot up. "Guys, I have an idea." She turned to Maggie. "But it's… unorthodox."

"Well…" The detective sighed. "What else is new, anyway."

"Your boss needs to be in on it. And… Well, if it doesn't work, then CADMUS is one step ahead of us."

Kara and Alex shared a look that Maggie couldn't decipher, but she had a pretty good idea of what was going through their minds. She sighed, and looked at the sisters with a heavy feeling in her chest.

"I'll do it. Whatever it takes."

* * *

Maggie walked into the police precinct, trying to ignore the nausea that welled up at the thought of what was about to happen.

She smiled politely at the woman behind the reception desk, and got into the elevator. With a sigh of relief, the elevator doors closed, and she was alone.

" _Maggie, can you hear me?_ "

"Loud and clear, Winn."

" _Good_." Winn's voice came back from her earpiece. " _Just focus, and try to give me an answer as quickly as possible. We have two chances."_

"Copy. I'm here, is the button cam alright?"

" _All coms are up. Good luck._ " He said. Maggie took a deep breath, and stepped out of the elevator, and into the science division bullpen.

"Alright, Sawyer's here, let's get this briefing over with." Cooper announced to the other four detectives, who all made their way to the meeting room, plopping down onto the chairs.

Maggie took a good look around. It was early morning, and everyone was carrying a big cup of coffee. She herself was the closest thing the division had to a morning person, and even that was overstating it.

She was awake, only because she'd been up since five to get all the wires running underneath her clothes connected to a van outside the precinct, where Winn was masterminding the entire operation.

"So." Cooper broke the silence. "Before we start, I'd like to make an announcement."

Maggie's stomach jumped. _Here we go_.

"Now, you all know about Sawyer's diabetes." Maggie felt four pairs of eyes land on her. She gave a small, weak smile, trying to act the part.

"It has come to my attention that last Thursday, while she was here at work, somebody managed to mess with her equipment. And I don't want to start pointing fingers, but every person that knows about it is present in this room. So if anybody wants to start talking, or explain how and why, I'm listening."

The silence after his speech was deafening. Maggie looked at the four of them, trying to single somebody out. Anybody who was acting suspicious.

She saw McConnell crossing his arms and frowning, but it looked like surprise, more than a confession of guilt. Rossi looked too into his cup of coffee to probably even care about what Cooper just said. Shaw looked nervous, and it set off some alarms in Maggie's head. But she got distracted by the look Taylor was giving her. It was a silent question. A worried glance, _why didn't you tell me_?

Maggie sighed, and looked at her boss, clearing the air. "I'm sorry, lieutenant, but I don't think anybody here is responsible for this."

"Sawyer, you know as well as I do that nobody else knows about it." Cooper shot back. "None of you are leaving until we sort this out. I'm not letting Sawyer walk out of this place by herself unprotected if we don't know who is targeting her!"

" _Sir_." Maggie hissed through her teeth, trying to sound convincingly angry. "All due respect, they are my friends. None of them are capable of doing something like this."

Cooper sighed. Maggie made a mental note to thank him later for the convincing act he was pulling.

"Okay, fine. McConnell, Rossi, you're patrolling today. Lewis, I need you on research about that alien drug bust from two days ago. Shaw, I need statements from those Kalvars you arrested. Sawyer, go home. You're still not allowed on duty."

The detectives scattered. As soon as Shaw closed the door behind him, Maggie released a breath she didn't know she was holding.

Cooper cleared his throat. "I'll give you some time. Shout if you need anything."

"Thanks, boss."

When she was alone, she pressed against her earpiece. "Winn?"

" _I caught the most of it. What are you thinking?"_

Maggie thought about it. She had Alex and Supergirl ready to shadow any of the four detectives. She had to follow her gut. "Winn? Tell Supergirl to go after McConnell and Rossi. Alex needs to take Shaw, he's headed for the prison."

" _So, no Cooper or Lewis?_ " Winn asked.

"Roger."

" _Okay. I'll send them off. Good job. Get to the van and I'll drive you home."_

Maggie took out the earpiece, and stuffed it underneath her shirt, before walking back into the bullpen.

Before she could make her way over to the elevator, she heard her name being called. She turned on her heels and saw that Lewis was leaning on her desk, and looking at her.

"Hey, Taylor."

"Maggie, are you okay?" Lewis looked sincere, but there was a different emotion there that Maggie couldn't quite place.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It was just…" She sighed. "…Scary. To think about how easy it was for somebody to screw with me like that."

"I mean, I can't even imagine." Lewis frowned. "But you're okay now, right?!"

"They got my rates back up after I crashed. Was unconscious for some time. They said I would've slipped into a coma if I kept it up."

Lewis seemed emotional, and wrapped her arms around the other detective. "I'm _so_ sorry."

"It's alright." Maggie shrugged when they pulled back. "Not much we can do about it now but find out who did it."

"About that…" Lewis leaned forward and looked around to check if anybody could hear them. "Thursday night, when you left for your… _date_ or whatever it was, I heard Cooper talking in his office."

Maggie frowned, but waited for her to continue.

"It was rough. It sounded like he was arguing with someone on the phone. I didn't want to eavesdrop, but I was passing by his office to talk to him about something else when I heard. He said something about blood… And then something with a 'cat'?"

"Cat…" Maggie repeated, before her eyes went wide. "CADMUS? Did he say CADMUS?!"

"I think so. Yeah." Lewis nodded.

Maggie scrambled to reach for her earpiece tucked underneath her shirt. But before she could do that, she saw Cooper's office door open.

Lewis seemed to sense what was coming, and she pulled Maggie by the jacket into the stairwell. Maggie sprinted down the stairs until she felt she was out of reach from her boss. _God, how could she have been so stupid? It was Rick Cooper all along, and she'd trusted him with everything_.

She finally reached for her earpiece. "Winn? Winn, you need to tell Supergirl to come back to the police station! It's Cooper. It's my boss, he's the mole!"

"We need to get you out of here." Lewis said, pulling Maggie into the rear parking lot. "I'll drive you. Get to my car and wait."

"Taylor, no, I need to-…"

Before she could continue, she saw Lewis grabbing her sidearm, and running back into the building. She sighed, weighing her options. She could do as Lewis said. After all, she was the target.

But then again… She couldn't. Cooper _had_ to have an explanation on why he'd betray her, because the thought of him working for CADMUS was simply ludicrous. And if Lewis would get to him first, she wouldn't be so kind to ask questions first. That much she knew about the other detective.

So she decided to pull her own gun, and walked back towards the back entrance of the building.

Before she could pull the door open, she felt a sharp pinch in her neck, like she'd just been stabbed with a needle. Immediately, whatever happened took effect, because her knees collapsed, and she fell forward on the ground, unable to move a limb.

She could only see the vague concrete underneath her, and hear footsteps surrounding her. Then, a familiar voice she couldn't place, because everything turned foggy and distorted.

" _Checkmate_."

After that, it all went black.

* * *

Alex had rarely felt like this before in her life. She couldn't breathe.

Nanoseconds after Winn had yelled in her earpiece to stop tailing Shaw and get back to the police station as soon as possible, she'd sprinted back.

The possibility of something happening to Maggie because her own plan had failed made her head spin. She _had_ to know her girlfriend was okay.

" _I have Cooper restrained, I'm flying him to the DEO to lock him up!"_ She heard Kara yell into her earpiece.

"Where's Maggie?" She asked back, pressing her index finger against her earpiece to switch on her microphone.

_"She wasn't there! I didn't see her!"_

Alex pulled her gun, and decided to round the corner of the precinct. If she'd walk in with a gun pulled she'd get shot before she could ask any questions whatsoever, so she figured entering through the back door could at least come as some sort of surprise.

She wasn't prepared for the sight in front of her.

Maggie, lying face down on the ground, unmoving. Her hand just a few inches away from her gun.

" _No_..." Alex's voice cracked as she leaned down to flip Maggie over, checking her for injuries. "Maggie... _No, please_... Please wake up..."

"She won't." A voice behind her. Before she could turn around and reach for her gun, she felt a sharp sting in her neck too.

Her arms involuntarily dropped Maggie onto the ground, and she slumped over her girlfriend's unconscious body, the darkness consuming her fast.


	11. Chapter 11

When Alex woke up, she couldn't see. She blinked furiously, and for a second she feared she'd gone blind. But as she looked around trying to orientate herself, she saw a small green light in the ceiling, blinking every few seconds. So she wasn't blind, the room was just pitch black.

She tried to get her bearings. Where was she? What happened? Her neck hurt, as if she'd been stung by something.

And then, in a second, everything came rushing back. The police station. Winn calling her back because of Maggie's boss…

 _Maggie_.

"Maggie?" She whispered into the blackness. Her head was pounding, and even her own whispers made waves of pain crash over her. She groaned, trying to lie as still as possible as to not disturb herself even more.

When she received no response, her heart started pounding in sync with the ache in her head. Something very bad had happened to both of them, and Alex had no idea where she was.

She desperately attempted to regain her composure, and brought her two hands together in a single clap, focusing on the noise.

There wasn't a big echo, so the room she was in wasn't all that big. The ground underneath her felt like cement.

All of a sudden, Alex heard a _beep_. She looked up to the darkness, before a voice filled the room. _"Hello, agent Danvers."_

Her stomach sank. Her fears had been correct.

"Lillian Luthor." She spat the name with as much hatred as possible.

" _Fantastic. I'm glad the introductions are out of the way._ "

Alex knew she had to think fast. She couldn't let CADMUS know how close she and Maggie were. Maybe it was just a coincidence that they were both abducted together. After all, they kept their PDA on the low when they were out in the field together. Maybe…

"What do you want?" She finally asked the blackness. The response was a cold chuckle. " _Why, agent Danvers. Why the rush? You're going to be here for a while. Might as well get comfortable, we can finish the small-talk later. In the meantime… I'll be paying a visit to your… friend."_

Alex willed herself to stay calm at the implications in Lillian's words. Apparently they had a camera on her too, because the answer came almost immediately. " _Or… You could save me the trouble… If you give me Supergirl's civilian identity, I'll let the detective go."_

In a second, Alex weighed her options. She had to keep both her sister and Maggie safe. Kara was probably out looking for them. And giving Kara's real identity up was out of the question.

Her own stupid plan had gotten Maggie caught up in this mess, so she couldn't risk it.

"What does it matter?" She decided to stall, to buy herself some time. "And what, you can't even come in here yourself to do it face to face? Why the darkness?!"

" _Why, you catch on fast._ " Came the taunting voice again. _"I'm sure that you'll see soon enough why you should prefer the darkness. As for Supergirl, well… It doesn't take the geniuses CADMUS has to figure out how Supergirl wouldn't hesitate to come save you. So in all reality, you're extremely expendable. Not to mention the detective. Now… smile. We're live."_

Alex frowned at the statement, as she couldn't see anything besides pitch black.

* * *

"For the fifteenth time, Jesus fucking Christ, I don't have anything to do with it!"

Kara, in her Supergirl outfit, folded her arms skeptically. She inched closer to the glass holding cell at the DEO, where an exasperated Rick Cooper was leaning against the side, glaring at her. "Sawyer's one of my best detectives, why the hell would I do something like that?!"

"You tell me." Kara said. "CADMUS have something on you?"

"I don't know who or what CADMUS is! I've been a lieutenant for the NCPD for years now, I serve this city loyally, I have no intention of ruining all that I've worked for!"

Kara heard a door open behind her, and saw Winn shuffle inside. "Supergirl? A word?"

The heroine walked towards Winn, but turned around once more to glare at the lieutenant.

As soon as they were alone, Winn cleared his throat. "Uh… Right, so… I don't want you to freak out, but… Neither Alex nor Maggie returned after the whole police precinct situation, and-..."

"What do you mean…?" Kara frowned. Winn looked at his tablet. "I mean… Maggie was supposed to get back in the van and she never showed up. And I saw Alex running inside the building, so I figured Alex helped Maggie escape, but…"

Winn sighed, and turned the tablet around. On it was a live night vision feed of a dark room. In the center of the room, a figure was crouched down onto the ground.

Kara recognized her sister immediately, and her eyes widened. "Where… Where is it, Winn?!"

"I can't trace the signal, they encrypted it. But I'm like 99% sure that CADMUS is behind it. And… Since you took Maggie's boss here, there's no way he could have kidnapped Alex."

Kara stepped back, feeling her breakfast coming back up at the sight of her sister, helpless, and at the mercy of Lillian Luthor and her scientists. She had to do something.

"Tell J'onn, we need a plan. I'm going to go fly around and see if I can hear her. Please… Keep an eye on her."

"Of course, yeah." Winn took a shaky breath as he turned back to the live feed in front of him, while Kara sped through the halls to get to her launching balcony.

* * *

Alex had lost all track of time. She couldn't tell if it had been seconds, minutes or hours since Lillian last spoke to her. In the darkness, she'd lost all sense of direction. The only thing she was aware of was her own breathing, and the way her heart was pounding in her chest.

She knew that there were cameras and microphones fixed on her, as there was no other way Lillian could have known how she responded. But this feeling of darkness and depression crept over her, and genuinely frightened her.

Another _beep_. " _Are you ready to talk to us, dear?_ "

"I don't know Supergirl's identity." Alex said. "I only work with her professionally."

" _Oh really? What about her saving you and the detective two days ago, from our facilities? Would she do that for just a professional relationship?_ "

Alex swallowed thickly. "Yes, she would. She fights crime, you're crime. It's not rocket science."

A 'tsk' from the speaker above her. " _And here I was, really hoping we could get a decent conversation going. Well… I suppose I'll have to convince you otherwise."_

All of a sudden, Alex heard footsteps surrounding her. Was somebody in the room with her? How long had they been in there?!

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a fist hitting flesh, and a low grunt. Alex turned to the sound instinctively. It came from inside the room, but it was hard to orientate herself in the dark.

Another punch. And another one. The rustling of chains. A painful gasp.

And with a shock, Alex realized what exactly she was listening to.

She jolted up, running towards the sounds, but felt herself being tripped, and falling onto the ground.

"No… Maggie!" She groaned, looking around. The weak answer came within seconds.

"… A-Alex?"

Alex looked up immediately. "Let her go, Luthor! She hasn't done anything to you!"

" _I guess she hasn't told you everything about herself, then. Some girlfriend she is._ "

Another punch. Alex winced at the sound. "Stop it! I'll tell you, just stop!"

" _Somehow I doubt it_." Lillian Luthor was laughing. Laughing at the pain Alex was feeling, not to mention Maggie.

"What do you want from me?!" Alex shouted back, feeling hot tears slip down her cheeks, knowing that Maggie was in the same room as her, but she couldn't reach her or see her.

"Alex, _don't_ …" Came Maggie's voice, followed by a sharp, wet intake of breath, and a cough.

Alex fell to her knees, sobbing. "I'll tell you… _please_ … I'll tell you…"

A chuckle from overhead.

" _I'm listening_."


	12. Chapter 12

There were two things Alex knew for sure.

One – Lillian Luthor was undoubtedly the most evil person she'd ever encountered in her life.

And two – Maggie would die in the next 24 hours.

She wasn't sure whether it was the darkness gnawing at her hope and positivity, or just simply her being a damn realist, but Alex was certain that she'd never felt more powerless that she'd felt in a long time, and she knew there was nothing she could do to save her girlfriend.

Except, of course, hand her little sister on a silver platter to the woman she'd vowed a long time ago she'd kill when she had the chance.

The silence in the room was filled every few seconds with a gurgle or a gasp of breath, and it felt like somebody had stabbed Alex through her heart. She looked up.

She knew damn well that Lillian would kill Maggie the second she gave up Kara's identity. She'd probably end up dead too anyway, since Lillian apparently had no use for either of them once she had Supergirl in her grip.

So the only thing she could do was stall. Stall, and hope that somehow, Kara and J'onn had a plan. Because the both of them were running out of time fast, and if the gurgled breathing was any indication, it was about to become a serious problem.

"Maggie, I'm here." Alex whispered again, wishing desperately that she could touch the detective, hold her. Comfort her.

" _Yes, but is she_?" Came Lillian's sickly sweet voice through the intercom.

"What do you mean?!" Alex spat back, looking up. She wasn't in the mood for any more of Lillian's games, and her patience was slowly turning to anger.

" _People that lose one of their senses, notice an almost immediate increase in the other four. You start to hear better… Pick up more scents…_ "

Alex took a shaky breath.

" _Can you smell it, agent Danvers? Can you smell the blood?!"_

She turned her head away from the sounds, but she couldn't unhear what Lillian had said. And the metal, sharp smell of what she _knew_ was her own girlfriend's spilled blood almost made her throw up.

" _We can play this game for a very long time, sweetie. The only one growing tired of it is you."_

"Let me see her, and I'll help you." Alex said to the ceiling, expecting no response. Instead, she received another chuckle.

" _You're not exactly in a position for demands, unfortunately. Hmmm…"_ Lillian faked thinking about it. _"Well, I suppose I could humor you for just this once. After all… She won't have much time left anyway_."

Alex felt her heart stop at the words, but had no time to reflect on them, before a sharp, bright light bathed the room in whiteness. Alex screamed, covering her eyes with her hands.

She heard her name being shouted, and knew that it was Maggie, but she didn't dare to open her eyes out of fear that she'd actually gone blind.

" _Now, now. I gave you a present, agent Danvers. At least enjoy it. Open your eyes_."

Alex took a shaky, unstable breath and opened her eyes carefully. While the whiteness still burned, she was at least happy to recognize her surroundings for the first time.

She was lying in a sizeable room with concrete walls. Her heart stopped when she saw two CADMUS henchmen, arms crossed, and standing next to a figure, hands tied to a chain in the wall behind her.

Maggie looked exhausted, and completely beat up, but her eyes were wide as she looked Alex in the eyes, silently asking a thousand questions that Alex all understood, but couldn't answer.

"I-it's going to be okay." Alex whispered. Maggie nodded quickly, and flashed a shaky, unconvincing grin. "Yeah."

It didn't fool Alex at all, but she knew that she had to be the strong one. To keep Maggie safe, even though the thought she had earlier hadn't slipped her mind. So she settled on looking the detective in the eyes pleadingly. "I love you, Maggie." _Whatever happens._

Maggie smiled weakly. "I love you too."

" _How endearing_."

Alex looked up, finally seeing that the green light did come from a camera on the ceiling.

" _Now, come on! Finish this, go to her and hold her!"_

She had no idea what Lillian was up to, but she knew that she'd never make it to Maggie's side before the Luthor would interfere.

Yet she had to take the risk. So she got up carefully, minding the now present ache in her ribs, and walked over to Maggie's form.

Surprisingly, neither of the two men stopped her, as she carefully took Maggie's face in her both hands, and leaned their foreheads together. Maggie winced, but Alex knew that she wouldn't want her to pull away. They stayed like that for a few seconds, until that godawful woman's voice filled the room again.

" _My, my. I'm getting teary-eyed._ "

"Fuck you." Maggie spat, looking up at the ceiling. "You don't scare me, Luthor."

" _Nothing really scares you, doesn't it, detective Sawyer? I mean… Except for your girlfriend knowing the truth about you."_

Maggie breathed heavily, but Alex couldn't tell if it was because of the pain, or Lillian's statement. The agent decided quickly that Lillian was probably just attempting another one of her psychological tricks to push them apart. She wasn't going to let her.

"I trust her, Lillian." Alex said. "That's enough for me."

" _And while that is absolutely heartwarming… I think it's time for you to tell your little secret to agent Danvers, wouldn't you say, Maggie?"_

The way Lillian said Maggie's name with such an attempted innocence, made Alex's blood boil. But much to her surprise, Maggie's shaky voice shot back. "I won't."

Immediately, the two henchmen sprang into action. One of them went to Alex and shoved her back, but the agent wasn't going down without a fight. She tried to get out of his grip and grab him by the neck, but the ache in her body and the fact that he was probably twice her size, made it anything but a fair fight. He shoved her onto the ground and held her arms back.

In the chaos, she'd lost track of Maggie, and she froze when she heard another horrifying scream.

One second after that, the lights shut off again, and the room returned to total blackness.

Alex felt the weight above her being lifted, as the man walked away. She vaguely remembered Maggie's position in the room, but when she crawled over to where she thought it was, she found nothing.

Either her mind was playing tricks on her, or Lillian was.

 _Beep_.

" _I've never liked the NCPD anyway._ "

"Go to hell." Alex heard Maggie's voice, this time coming from the other side of the room. She spun around towards the sound. Was she that wrong about her position?

" _Do you kiss your girlfriend with that mouth?"_

Alex heard shuffling, as if the henchmen were up and about, moving things around. It disoriented her completely.

" _My dear agent… I have so much more in store for her. You can make her pain go away. But if you don't tell me who Supergirl is in the next five seconds… I cannot guarantee her safety."_

Alex almost heard the clock ticking in her head. She couldn't. She _wouldn't_ …

Three… Two… One…

" _How unfortunate. So young, so beautiful."_

The sound of a gunshot echoed through the room.

Followed immediately by the most haunting scream Alex had ever heard in her life.

"MAGGIE!" She yelled, now jumping to her feet and running around aimlessly, hitting the walls of her concrete cell twice before stumbling back onto the ground, the tears spilling quickly down her face. " _Please, Maggie_! Where are you!"

"Alex…" Came the pleading, pained voice. "Please… Please, you have to tell her."

"Maggie, I can't… I…" Alex shut her eyes, knowing well enough that it didn't make a difference. She had to choose. She knew it. Maggie, or her sister.

If she gave up her sister's real identity, that would mean the end of her. She would never have a normal life again, and just the thought of throwing all that away in her place seemed selfish.

But Maggie was dying. That much she knew. And as much as she knew, she couldn't accept it.

"Alex… Please… Tell her, I can't… I can't take it anymore!" Maggie's pained wails filled her ears once again.

Then, a thought popped into her head.

Maggie wouldn't be this disturbed by just a gunshot wound. No. Maggie was trained. She wouldn't let herself go like that faced with a crisis. And she'd never admit to weakness in the face of her enemies. That much she knew.

_It had to be another one of Lillian's tricks._

And after a second, she realized that Maggie was probably not even there in the room with her. It was probably all an illusion to make her snap.

But… could she take that risk? Because if she did, and it was real… Then Maggie would die for sure.

And that was the moment she knew, she'd run out of time. She had to decide.

Maggie or Kara?

With a quick prayer to whatever God she didn't believe in but would listen to her, she looked up at the ceiling.

"I'm calling your bluff, Luthor. And I'll never tell you a goddamn thing."


	13. Chapter 13

It had to have been an eternity. Alex was cold, sore all over, and most of all terrified out of her mind.

Ever since she'd called Lillian out on her tricks, the room had been dead silent. And while she knew she had to cling onto hope to get out of whatever place she was trapped in, a voice in her head knew that she'd just abandoned all options to save Maggie.

By now, she was convinced that she'd made a mistake. It had been Maggie. She didn't know what they did to her, they could have done anything to break her. Beat her, poison her, torture her… It had been Maggie screaming for help, and instead of helping her… She'd made it worse.

The feeling pulled at her heart, like it had been ripped out of her chest. She was shaking, and tears were slipping down her face. But she couldn't give up Kara. Not like this. She had to be strong.

With the sound of Maggie's laugh and the sight of Maggie's dimples burned in the back of her mind, trying to keep out the haunting screams and bruises she'd witnessed earlier, she lost consciousness.

* * *

The pain was unbearable.

She'd never felt pain like this., and she'd had her fair share of broken bones and cuts and bruises. She'd been shot and stabbed, and kidnapped before. But nothing came close to this.

A pitch black room. A chain around her hands. She couldn't move, and breathing was hard enough after the beating she'd received.

Her thoughts drifted off to Alex. The last time she saw her, that moronic asshole jumped on top of her and held her down.

She'd been moved around, that much she knew. She couldn't hear Alex anywhere, even though she knew that she hadn't moved to another room.

" _Are you ready to talk_?"

Maggie laughed weakly, though she stopped quickly after she noticed how much it hurt. "What do you want? Supergirl's identity? I don't know it."

" _What is the location of the DEO?"_

"You already… Know that." Maggie gasped painfully.

" _You're so observant. No wonder they made you detective. So, can you use your skills to figure out what we would possibly want from you?"_ Lillian asked.

Maggie leaned her head back in exasperation. "I would, but your goons breaking my bones makes it kind of hard to think. But please, by all means, enlighten me."

Lillian laughed. " _CADMUS fixes things that are broken. And you, detective Sawyer, are infected with love for those that do not belong on our sacred planet_."

"Right…" Maggie tried her hardest not to show how much pain she was in. "… So you're going to pray the alien gay away."

" _I had such high hopes for you. Better not run that mouth of yours too much, or your girlfriend will pay the price."_

Shit. Maggie willed herself to shut her mouth. Her getting a few more hits because of her defiance was fine, but she didn't know how much Alex could take.

And the fucking darkness was starting to wear her out. She'd felt blood trickle down her face before, but she couldn't see how much it was.

She tried to take comfort in the fact that Alex couldn't be far away, and that everything would turn out alright if she played it safe.

"I'll do it." She sighed. "Whatever you want."

" _See? That wasn't so hard._ "

Maggie grunted, and tried to pull at her chains again. A few seconds later, a door opened behind her, bathing the room in light. She turned away from it, before she felt herself being grabbed once again. Resisting was pointless, she realized, and it would only make things worse for Alex.

Another prick in her neck. She grunted, but within seconds she felt herself dropping to the floor once again.

* * *

Kara was a mess. Ever since she'd witnessed the scene between Maggie and Alex in the dark room, she couldn't think or breathe.

She and Winn were watching the stream at the command center. J'onn had taken over her shift of flying around town looking for suspicious activity.

"What are they _doing_ to her?" She whispered to the screen. Winn cleared his throat.

"It's the darkness, they're doing it to drive her crazy. And they're rotating the walls so-…" Winn trailed off when he saw Kara's glare, and realized that the question had been rhetorical. "Never mind, not relevant."

"We need to figure this out, Winn. She's losing it."

Her hands trembled as she willed herself to stay calm.

"T-the stream is encrypted so I can't track it… But maybe I can go around it." Winn cleared his throat nervously. "I-… You're right. We need to act fast. Do you think Lena knows something?"

"I doubt it…" Kara shook her head. "But it's worth a shot. I'll go talk to her."

Winn nodded, and watched her go, before turning back to the stream, and his computer screens.

"Don't worry, guys. We're looking for you."

* * *

" _Wakey wakey."_

Alex carefully opened her eyes, woken up by the grating sound of Lillian's voice over the speaker. It took her a second to get used to the darkness again.

" _Well, I think you'll be glad to hear that we finally managed to find a good cause for detective Sawyer. I hope you'll still be able to recognize her when the make-over is done, because she's going to be absolutely fabulous."_

A thought struck Alex's mind. _I'd rather have her dead than in the hands of CADMUS._

" _Of course… My offer still stands. Tell me what I need to know, and I give you my word as a scientist that we'll let her go."_

Alex chuckled weakly. "Luthor, I'm going to kill you and everyone you love when I get my hands on you."

" _I can't wait_." Lillian's sarcastic answer came instantly. " _But until then, allow me to give you front row tickets to the show._ "

The lights flashed on again, and it hurt as much as the last time. But this time Alex knew she had to bite through the pain to open her eyes. Because Maggie was in the room again, strapped down to a chair, and two CADMUS scientists were standing over her.

"Let go of her!" Alex shouted, though she knew she couldn't move without risking them killing her.

"Alex… I'm okay." Maggie nodded quickly, looking her in the eyes. She looked tired, like she'd just woken up. "Don't worry. Please, don't do anything stupid, I can take it."

So it _had_ been a trick earlier. Of course.

Maggie kept her eyes trained on her girlfriend. "Don't tell her anything. Let me do this, Al."

As one of the scientists neared Maggie with a scalpel, the detective involuntarily flinched away from it. He moved the object to her stomach, and pulled up her shirt.

Alex's heart stopped as a thin line of blood appeared, and Maggie grunted from the pain the incision was causing. It was the trigger for Alex to jump up. "Okay, okay! Enough!"

" _Yes?_ " Lillian asked.

"Fine. If you let her go, I'll tell you. No more games, no more hurting her."

" _If you give me Supergirl, I'll let her walk_."

"Alex, no." Maggie shook her head. "Don't!"

Alex looked at the camera, and moved her hand around frantically, in one last attempt to get a head start on her.

Then, she looked at her girlfriend once again. "I love you."

Maggie was yelling at her now, but she ignored it. Instead, she turned back to the ceiling. "Her name is Kara. Kara Danvers."


	14. Chapter 14

"Lena wasn't at her office and I can't reach her cell." Kara sighed, walking back into the command center.

Winn turned around to face her, pale and trembling, and Kara immediately sensed that something had gone wrong. "What? What is it?!"

Winn opened his mouth a few times, and closed it when no sound came out. Instead, he rewound the feed on the monitor in front of them.

Alex, staring at the ceiling, her hand cramping. Before turning to Maggie, and finally spilling the truth to CADMUS.

" _Kara Danvers_."

"No…" Kara shook her head slowly, refusing to believe what she'd just witnessed. "It has to be a trick. CADMUS would… They would fake it… To get…"

"I don't think so, Kara…" Winn looked at her, his eyebrows furrowed. "I'm so sorry…"

"What…" Kara took a shaky breath. "What would they do to her for her to say that?! She doesn't look hurt!"

"I haven't seen Maggie anywhere… Maybe… Maybe they did something to her."

"Oh no…" Kara turned away from the monitors, feeling sick to her stomach. "No, no…"

Winn rewound the footage again. "Her hand… Right before she… Wait a minute…"

Kara turned back around at the sound of that. "What?"

"It's not a cramp… It's… It's sign language." Winn zoomed in on Alex's features as she moved her hand desperately at the camera.

Kara inched closer to the screen and nodded slowly. "What is she saying?"

"I don't… It's sloppy…" Winn narrowed his eyes in focus. "Maggie… Something about Maggie. I can't see this word… and then something… Footprint."

"Footprint…" Kara frowned, before realizing what it meant. "Winn! They want me, so they have to have kryptonite stored somewhere! We need to check the kryptonite footprint!"

Winn hurried to open the software on his tablet, swiping it up so that the window was next to the live feed of Alex, sitting upright in the room by herself.

"Come on, come on…" Kara prayed to Rao that they'd find something, anything.

"Okay… I have… 5 hotspots of kryptonite residue. Two downtown, one near the harbor, one in the desert… and one moving around."

"The one in the desert is a secure DEO storage unit." Winn and Kara spun around to see J'onn, in his Hank Henshaw form, walking up to them. "Winn, keep tracking the one moving around. I'll take the harbor, and get strike teams to search the other locations."

"J'onn, what about-…" Kara started, but J'onn interrupted her quickly. "You're not joining in on this, Kara. If they have kryptonite you can't help."

"But-… No!" She shook her head. "My sister is in danger! And so is Maggie, I need to help them!"

"You're not coming." J'onn said, sternly. "That's an order."

"I don't work for you!" Kara shot back, now getting angry. "If you don't 'want me to come', I'll find them myself!"

With one last look over her shoulder to the map, she took off, leaving Winn and J'onn by themselves. They shared a look, as J'onn left to prepare the strike teams.

Winn turned back to the monitor with the live feed, and watched the shape of the agent he'd always secretly admired, crumpled to the floor. He hoped it would be over soon.

* * *

They'd taken Maggie away again, but Alex could still hear the screams coming from the room next to hers. Now that she knew about the rotating walls, she was aware of the fact that Maggie was less than 20 feet away from her, so close but so far away.

At this point she didn't even know whether it was a CADMUS trick or not, as she just accepted that it was Maggie anyway.

" _My dear, why do you look so down?"_

Sickly sweet. Trying to sound innocent. And Alex had never felt this much hatred in her life.

"We had a deal, Luthor." She snapped. "How moronic of me to think that you'd be true to your word for even one second."

" _Well, agent Danvers, we are going to let her go once we have Supergirl._ "

Alex chuckled humorlessly. "Somehow, I doubt it."

" _If you want a sign of trust, agent Danvers, I'd be happy to provide it. You name it, and I'll arrange it. I'm not heartless, dear."_

"I want to talk to Maggie." Alex said immediately. "Right now."

" _Hmm. I figured you'd say something among those lines. Too bad that's the only thing I can't do right now, as detective Sawyer is currently busy."_

Alex froze. She willed herself again to stay calm. "I did what you asked, Luthor. I gave you Supergirl."

" _You gave us your sister. That doesn't prove anything except for_ _a very weird sense of betraying people. Until we bring your sister in and confirm that it's actually her, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do. Unlike your girlfriend… My lips are sealed."_

"You son of a bitch, I swear to God…" Alex bit her lip to forcibly restrain herself from spouting the other curses at the tip of her tongue. "Turn the lights on, Luthor. At least let me see her."

A chuckle. _"Granted_."

The lights flashed back on, and Alex took a second to open her eyes. The wall in front of her had turned transparent… And there was Maggie.

A body on top of her.

For a second, it looked like they were fighting, until Alex saw the fingers tangled Maggie's black hair.

They were kissing.

As the lights in Alex's room came on, the pair looked up in surprise, and the next second, Maggie's eyes met Alex. The look of surprise, pain, and most of all _guilt_ on Maggie's face made her stomach drop.

Alex clenched her eyes shut and turned away, hoping now more than ever that it was all one sick nightmare. That CADMUS was trying to break her. But the moans that had come from the other side of the wall seconds ago were echoing inside her head.

" _Still want the lights on, agent Danvers?"_

* * *

Maggie tried desperately to stop the bleeding from the cut in her stomach. She'd taken off her leather jacket, pressing it up against her abdomen, but in the darkness, she couldn't tell if it was working.

The door to the room opened, and a figure walked inside. In a few seconds, the room lit up. Maggie narrowed her eyes, but before she could recognize them, the figure spoke.

"Hey, Maggie."

A shaky, unstable yet familiar voice. As Maggie's eyes focused in on her, she chuckled weakly. "Ah, well, didn't see that one coming."

Ciara looked around nervously, before kneeling next to her. "Let me see."

Maggie turned away from the blonde, but frowned when she felt her arms being pulled away. She then saw that Ciara was holding a first aid kit.

"Here to gloat about your brilliant plan to kidnap me?"

"I didn't kidnap you, Maggie." Ciara shook her head, and hesitated. "… Taylor did."

"Lewis?!" Maggie winced at the confession. "No… God, no, she's like one of my best friends…"

"It wasn't… They…" Ciara clenched her jaw. "They threatened us, Maggie. They knew about… Me and Taylor being together. If I didn't distract you while you were getting coffee on Thursday, they'd hurt her. A-and they had her switch your equipment."

"Of course…" Maggie grunted as Ciara started to put gauze on the cut on her stomach. "Figures Lewis was behind it."

"She wasn't behind it!" Ciara shot back immediately, a defensive look on her face. "She wouldn't do that to you."

"But she would have killed me." Maggie shook her head. "Fuck this." She looked up at Ciara, watching her bandaging the wound. "So why are you here? Where is here, anyway?"

"They sent me a message with GPS coordinates. I had to show up and bring a first aid kit, or else they'd hurt Taylor. I don't know where she is, but they drugged me, and I blacked out. I woke up in the room outside of here, and a voice told me to walk in… Maggie, why are they doing this? What do you know?!"

Maggie opened her mouth to reply, but figured the walls had ears everywhere, so she sighed. "I don't know what they want."

A beep. _"Oh, detective Sawyer, you know what we want."_

Maggie rolled her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about, Luthor."

" _Well, now that your girlfriend seems eager to talk, I'd suggest you do the same, or she gets it."_

"I can't tell you, Lillian." She shook her head. "I don't remember."

" _Lies. Hmm. Well, I can keep this up all day, we have plenty of tricks up our sleeve. Ciara, dear?_ "

Ciara stepped forward. "They said that… We needed to make out, or they'd kill me."

"What?!" Maggie asked, hoping that she'd heard her wrong. Ciara swallowed thickly. "They said I needed to go into the room, and kiss you. I don't know what they want, and I would never cheat on Taylor, but they… I think they're going to kill her if I don't do as they say."

Maggie's heart jumped. "Jesus Christ… That's so fucked up…"

"I'm sorry, Maggie…"

"Just… Just do it." Maggie winced, getting up slowly from her position on the ground. Ciara stepped forward, and pulled them together in a careful kiss. Maggie felt that Ciara was uncomfortable – they both were – and she was ready to pull away, when she felt something else.

Something that felt like a punch to her midsection, and she doubled over in pain. Before she knew it, Ciara had shoved her onto the ground, jumping on top of her. Maggie could barely catch her breath before her lips were attacked, feeling the cut in her stomach start to bleed once again.

As she was trying to shove Ciara away, she saw the lights in the room next to hers jump on, as her eyes met her girlfriend.

Ciara froze above her, and it gave Maggie enough time to punch her in the face to get her away, but she already saw that Alex had turned her head.

"No… Alex! I didn't… Alex!"

Before she could continue, the door to her room opened, and two CADMUS henchmen came out, grabbing her by the arms and dragging her out of the room. She felt another prick in her neck, and then she was out.

* * *

" _I'm sorry about your girlfriend, Alex. I thought you two were perfect for each other."_

"Don't call me Alex. And don't talk about her." Alex was tired. She was fucking tired, and all she wanted to do was cry. She couldn't take any of this anymore, the darkness, the constant fear. She just wanted Maggie to be safe, to not be hurt.

She'd been left to rot. It had been at least fifteen minutes since she'd witnessed the make-out. The rational side of her knew that Maggie wouldn't do it. And certainly not there. There had to be more to the story. Though the part of Alex that had given up clouded her judgment greatly. In all honesty, she didn't care anymore. She just wanted to get away from this hell.

She hadn't realized she'd fallen asleep until she was jolted awake by a huge crashing sound, followed by gunfire. Alex shot up, but it sounded like it was coming from all around her, so she had no idea where to go.

Before she could do anything else, the ceiling above her collapsed, and she barely jumped out of the way of a figure crashing down into the room.

Alex raised her hands above her head to shield herself from incoming damage, but then saw who it was through the light overhead. She sighed, the relief making her light-headed.

"Supergirl…"

Kara turned to her, and raced to be at her side, tears in her eyes. "Alex, did they hurt you? What-…"

Alex shook her head. "I'm fine… I… I'm just… _God_ , Kara I'm so sorry… I didn't…"

"Hey, it's okay." Kara shushed her. "We're going to get you and Maggie out of here."

" _Supergirl. Or should I say Kara?"_ Lillian's voice. Kara looked up and growled. "I'm going to find you, Lillian. And I'm going to kill you."

A breathy laugh above them. " _Well, not if my… new associate finds you first."_

Alex and Kara shared an uncertain look, before another figure jumped down the hole that Kara had made during her entrance.

Alex's heart stopped.

Kara looked as shocked as Alex, but felt herself weaken at the all-too familiar feeling of the presence of kryptonite too. She looked up to face the figure.

Veins glowing green, a determined yet distant look of hatred. And an all too familiar smirk, reaching the dimples in her cheeks.

_Maggie._


	15. Chapter 15

Alex felt like she was going to vomit.

It was a sight she would never be able to get out of her mind. Het girlfriend, taking slow steps towards her sister, who was swaying unsteadily, focused on the green pulsing through Maggie's throat.

"M-Maggie…" Kara carefully took a small step backwards. "Hey… It's me…"

" _I'm afraid she can't hear you, Supergirl. She's too busy working out ways to make sure you never see the light of day again._ "

"No, Lillian, please, I…" Alex tried, but she knew well enough that there was nothing that she could do about this. This was Lillian Luthor's endgame. She couldn't try to gamble for Maggie's life, she couldn't do anything that would risk Kara's safety.

Instead, she could only watch, as Maggie tilted her neck from side to side, hearing the bones crack. The detective smirked once again. "I'm going to enjoy this."

"Maggie, this isn't you. Please snap out of it…" Kara tried hopelessly, before Maggie swung her fist upward, hitting Kara in the face and causing her to stumble backwards.

Before she could attempt to get back up, Maggie was already continuing her attack with punches and kicks. Alex jumped up and tried to push Maggie away, but the other woman grabbed her by the throat and shoved her away with a force Alex had never known she possessed.

She had to have been enhanced somehow.

Maggie focused back on Kara, who had in the meantime jumped back to her feet and raised her fists defensively. "Maggie, I don't want to hurt you…"

"Try me."

Kara ran towards Maggie, feeling her strength drain the closer she got. The moment she swung her fist, Maggie dodged it, and returned it with a punch of her own, right in Kara's throat. The blonde stumbled back, her hand nursing the sore spot and trying to catch her breath.

Alex ran up to Maggie from behind, grabbing her arms and trying to hold her down. She heard Maggie hiss. "You think you can hold me down? You've always thought that." She spun around, getting out of Alex's grip easily, and headbutting her. Alex grunted, and clutched her nose.

Kara grabbed Maggie by the back of her top, pulling her back and finally delivering her first punch. Maggie groaned, and tried to grab Kara by the hair, but the blonde spun around so that she was holding Maggie in a chokehold.

Maggie gasped for air, and clawed desperately at Kara's arm around her throat. Alex watched in horror as Maggie's eyes finally found her, and she saw recognition inside them.

"A-Al..ex…" Maggie choked out, a confused look on her face. Alex's eyes widened. "Kara, stop it! You're hurting her!"

"What?! No, Alex, this is a trick! She wouldn't get caught like that!"

"Kara, _Jesus_ , let her go!" Alex shoved Kara away, the blonde dropping the hold on Maggie immediately, and the detective crumpled to the ground, breathing heavily.

Alex crouched down next to her, running a hand through her hair. "Hey… Maggie… It's me, you're okay…"

Maggie's eyes shot open again, and she turned to Alex, bending her leg to kick the agent in the abdomen. Alex let out an indignant howl of pain as she tumbled to the ground, and Maggie jumped up again to meet Kara's fighting stance.

" _Well, this is all quite entertaining, but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere."_ Lillian's voice boomed through the speaker.

Kara looked back at Alex, crumpled in a heap on the ground, before looking at the ceiling. "In a few minutes this place is going to be crawling with DEO agents, Luthor."

" _Oh, I'm well aware, dear. We all made it out safely, but I'm glad you care about our wellbeing. Which is why I left you a little present."_

Kara was panting, but she and Alex still managed to share a look. Even Maggie was transfixed by Lillian's voice, as she was staring at the blinking green light on the ceiling intensely.

" _Detective Sawyer, you have five minutes to finish the job. Otherwise, the explosives in the ceiling will detonate. And don't worry, Supergirl, there's plenty more of that kryptonite inside."_

 _Shit_. Alex winced at the different pains radiating throughout her body, as she realized what those words meant. Either Maggie would kill them both, or they'd blow up to pieces.

Kara took a shaky breath. "We need to leave. Now." She turned to Maggie. "Please, I know you're still in there."

She half expected another sarcastic response, or maybe even another punch to the throat, but she froze when she saw Maggie bent over, moaning while holding her head. "Ugh… I-… I c-can't… F-fight it…"

After that, she looked back up with another big smirk on her face. "You're not leaving. I won't allow it."

Alex struggled to get back on her feet. "Mags, you're trying so hard, baby… You're doing so well… Please, just a little bit longer, we can get you help, we can take out whatever chip… or… _thing_ they put inside you… We just need to leave."

Maggie took a step forward, walking over to Alex. The agent tensed, not sure what the outcome of her words would be.

But instead of the recognition she hoped to see once again, her girlfriend's eyes were cold as ice. She felt Maggie's hand wrap around her throat, as she was forced backwards until her back hit the wall behind her.

"Please…" Alex was crying now. This was not how she wanted her life to end. This wasn't how she wanted the last memory of her girlfriend. Or Kara, for that matter. So she tried one last desperate move.

"Baby, I love you. You're… You're all I ever wanted in life, you're so perfect. And I-I can't imagine living without you. These past months… of you by my side have been the happiest of my life. And if it has to end tonight, then I'll still be the luckiest person in the world to have had you to love."

Maggie stared at her, as Alex felt the grip on her throat close, and realized that this was it. Though a big part of her was at least glad that she'd managed to say what had been on her mind ever since CADMUS had taken both of them.

It wasn't until she saw the tears in Maggie's eyes, that she realized that something was actually happening. The detective was breathing heavily, and the green in her veins seemed to be pulsing. Her mouth opened slightly, locked in a grimace. "L-Luthor…"

" _Detective Sawyer, stick to your orders. If you can't obey, I'll be forced to take action."_

"To h-hell… w-with your… o-orders." Maggie managed to grunt, before pulling herself away from Alex and landing on her knees.

For a second, Alex looked up helplessly to Kara, but the blonde was frozen. She looked torn between helping Maggie, and being on guard in case she pulled her earlier stunt again.

Within seconds, Maggie went calm, apparently again overcome with whatever mind control Lillian Luthor was performing. She got to her feet, Kara running to stand protectively in front of Alex.

Maggie looked up, but the arrogant smirk she'd had on earlier was replaced by a look of serenity, as she reached into her back pocket. For a second, Kara feared she had a kryptonite gun, but both Danvers sisters were confused at the sight of a syringe, clutched in Maggie's sweaty palm.

" _I figured it appropriate that this was how she died. You know, she had it coming anyway. With her rates being low for about a week… Nobody will be surprised at the overdose of such a chaotic, self-destructive woman... So tragic._ "

Alex saw the insulin syringe and stepped forward immediately. "No… Baby, look at me. Give me that, come on."

"Alex…" Kara held her back. Alex looked at her sister with a frown. "No, she needs help. She needs me."

Kara looked up at her and whispered. "It might be another trick."

"Kara, what the hell, let go of me! Maggie!" Alex looked at her girlfriend, and saw that she was pulling up her shirt, to reveal the badly bandaged cut, blood seeping through the sterile white gauze. She raised the syringe, ready to plunge it into her abdomen, when Alex tackled her to the ground.

Kara raced forward to help her, but was stopped by her super hearing. A constant beeping, speeding up. Dangerously fast. In that second, she realized that the three of them were out of time.

"Alex! We need to go, the bomb is about to go off!"

Alex still had her arms wrapped around Maggie, who had yet to move, and neither sister wanted to think about what that meant.

"Alex, I can't carry her!" Kara shouted. "The kryptonite!"

The agent looked around, and realized the gravity of the situation. "Shit…"

A few moments of silence, only disturbed by the beeping in Kara's ears. "Alex, we need to move, I'm sorry… I need to fly you out."

"What?!" Alex's eyes widened. "No, shut up! We need to think!"

"Alex, there's no other way, I can't take her, you know that."

"But what if… If… We…" Tears slipped down Alex's cheeks. "I can't leave her… I _won't_ leave her, Kara! Get out, I'll stay here with her."

"No! I'm taking you with me!"

"Get the fuck out!" Alex screamed at Kara, turning back to her girlfriend and wrapping her arms around her, kissing her forehead. "I'm sorry… Maggie, I love you…"

Kara had thick tears streaming down her face too. "Alex, _please_ …"

"GO!"

And in that moment, Kara knew that she had to make the decision that would change her life forever. Because they'd run out of time. And she couldn't bear the thought of losing her sister to CADMUS.

So with her final seconds, she pulled Alex away from Maggie with the last strength she had, and launched herself upwards into the hole in the ceiling, and out of the CADMUS facility.

The ringing in her ears followed by the explosion behind her would haunt her forever.


	16. Chapter 16

The whole flight back to the DEO, Kara was numb. She couldn't look at her sister, because she knew her heart would break if she did.

She assumed her sister was in shock, because Alex had yet to make a sound, or react to the whole situation. A thought that worried Kara greatly, because the longer it would last, the harder she would take it.

As she landed back to the DEO, she saw both Winn and J'onn look at her in shock, upon realizing that she was carrying her unresponsive sister.

"We… We saw an explosion downtown…" Winn stammered. Kara nodded. "It was the CADMUS facility. Lillian Luthor rigged it with explosives."

"Where's Maggie?" J'onn asked, as Winn called for medical help. Kara took a shaky breath. "I… I had to leave her."

"What do you me-…Oh…" Winn looked down, trying to process what Kara had said.

Doctor Hamilton ran into the command center, and focused on Alex immediately. "Hey, Danvers… Alex, can you hear me?"

When the agent didn't respond, Hamilton shot Kara an uncertain look, before walking Alex out of the room, towards the medical bay. As soon as the warmth of Alex's body left Kara's torso, the blonde lurched forward and started breathing heavily. Winn raced to be by her side, while J'onn remained at his position, holding a hand over his mouth.

"Hey, Kara… Breathe…"

"I… I _left_ her, Winn… I could have… I could have _done_ something! Alex told me to leave both of them behind but I wouldn't… I… I chose my sister…"

Kara now broke down completely, her knees buckling, and wailing. Winn rubbed her back slowly, whispering soft reassurances that everybody in the room knew even he didn't believe. But it wasn't what Kara needed.

"Why did you leave her?" J'onn asked. It wasn't an accusation, but his words were harsh anyway. Kara looked up. "She… CADMUS enhanced her. She had kryptonite in her veins, I saw it… She attacked both of us, Luthor brainwashed her or… Controlled her mind, she was trying to resist it."

"Are you okay?" J'onn's piercing eyes landed on her. "With the kryptonite?"

"Yeah, she didn't… She _barely_ hurt me." Kara sniffed. "I need to go to Alex, I need to-…"

Winn stopped her with an arm over her chest. "I don't think… Alex needs you right now."

"But-…" Kara sobbed. Winn was right, her sister hated her. Despised her for not listening to her and choosing her life over Maggie's.

"Listen, Kara. There was nothing you could have done to help Maggie if she had kryptonite in her. And Alex will see that, in time. But not right now. She'll say things she won't mean."

"She'll mean them." Kara whispered, looking at the ground. "She'll never want to even look at me, ever again."

* * *

"Alex, can you tell me what day it is?" Hamilton leaned over the medical bed Alex was currently lying in, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The doctor sighed when Alex showed no signs of responding, and wrote something down on her clipboard, only stopping when she saw the message Winn had sent her through the internal server.

_Maggie dead in explosion. Kara left her behind, Alex in shock._

"Jesus…" Hamilton glanced sideways at Alex, who just stared ahead of her.

She realized that there wasn't much she could do about the shock except wait for it to wear off – and brace herself for the impact that would give – so she settled on cutting open Alex's clothes and checking her for injuries. The numerous cuts, bruises and aggravated injuries to her ribs and torso were all carefully identified, written down, and stitched up and bandaged.

Apart from that, there wasn't much else to do. The true nature of Alex's pain was something Amelia wished she could do anything about, but knew well enough she never could.

" _I'm sorry, Alex_." She whispered to the unresponsive agent, as she took a hand in hers and caressed it with her thumb.

* * *

"I'm going to find Luthor. I don't care where she hides. I'm going to hunt her down and blast her down with my heat vision until she's cut in half!" Kara growled, pacing up and down the command center. "I'm going to kill her, _and then_ …"

Winn interrupted quickly before she could pull out another string of threats and curses. "Kara, maybe you should get some rest. Or maybe… Go visit Lena?" He tried, hopeful that maybe Kara would settle down at the thought of her girlfriend. Of course… said girlfriend was a Luthor. A thought Winn hadn't considered fast enough. Kara whipped around to face him, the fire in her eyes almost looking like she was ready to use her heat vision on anything in the room that moved.

"This has _nothing_ to do with Lena, and everything with that demon of a mother of hers."

"Yeah!" Winn squeaked. "I get it, never mind, forget I asked…"

"This is insane. Where could she be hiding another CADMUS facility in National City that we haven't already cleared?!"

"Wait a minute…"

Both Kara and J'onn stared at Winn, expecting him to elaborate. "The kryptonite footprint! There's a huge cloud of it around the warehouse that exploded."

"To be expected after such an explosion, mister Schott." J'onn eyed him skeptically. Winn shook his head, and enlarged the map on the monitor, zooming in on the warehouse. "This is the footprint from fifteen minutes ago… and _this_ …" He forwarded the timecode, "…Is the footage now."

"I don't see any difference, except for the cloud moving around." J'onn shook his head, but Kara narrowed her eyes. "That spec…"

Winn zoomed in even more, pointing at a few pixels on the screen. "That spec is an independent group of kryptonite, that moves around after the explosion, and disappears out of the cloud."

"Can we track it?!" Kara yelled, a new feeling of hope settling into her stomach.

But the feeling was short-lived when J'onn sighed. "It could very well be a shipment of kryptonite that one of the CADMUS employees is moving around to a different location."

"Well, it's a lead anyway." Winn tracked the dots on the map, until they stopped, and started to fade away slowly.

"What's happening?!" Kara asked, seeing the dots fade, and eventually disappear. Winn stammered. "I-I don't know… I mean, the kryptonite can't … _disappear_ , can it?! Maybe the tracking is faulty, or…"

J'onn grunted. "Or maybe the connection to the tracker is fading out, because they're moving."

"But they're not moving, they're staying-…" Winn's eyes widened as he finally realized what it meant. "They're moving underground, that's why the tracker is losing the footprint."

"There could be an underground facility. I'm going to prep a strike team." J'onn turned to Kara. "And this time you _are_ staying here, or I'm containing you in kryptonite shackles."

J'onn stepped away from the command center. Winn shot Kara a look of uncertainty. "You're not actually thinking of defying him and going there, are you?"

"If CADMUS is in there…"

"Kara, if what you're saying is true, then Maggie was caught in an explosion, and there's no way she survived that. And I don't want you getting your hopes up when we both know that the chance is slim."

"It's not about finding Maggie, Winn." Kara said, turning around and eyeing the launching balcony. "It's about Lillian Luthor, and how I'm going to enjoy stabbing her own kryptonite through her chest."

Winn opened his mouth to protest, but before he could, the blonde was already up, and speeding through National City to find her revenge.


	17. Chapter 17

A loud, wailing noise alerted everybody in the DEO that Alex Danvers had finally snapped out of her shocked state. The sound was almost inhumane, and for a second, Winn actually recognized it as the primal cry of an animal that had lost its mate.

He closed his eyes, wincing as the crying continued. The medical bay wasn't that far from the command center, but he knew she had to be screaming her lungs out for it to reach him that clear.

And Alex Danvers never lost control in front of other people. But this… This was Maggie.

Alex Danvers' own, special kryptonite.

CADMUS had finally gotten to them. All the things they tried in the past, all the stunts they pulled…

They meant nothing. This meant war. And Winn was well aware.

J'onn had assembled his team, and excused himself to call the president, trying to explain the situation to her, and making sure that the police and firemen backed off of the explosion site. The DEO needed jurisdiction to investigate it. Or something. Winn didn't know how it worked.

He was focused on tracking Supergirl as she was flying towards the disappearing dots on the map, apparently some sort of underground sewer system.

But he couldn't focus with Alex's cries echoing off the walls. He needed to tell J'onn about where Kara went, and hope that he wouldn't get an earful for letting her go in the first place.

Winn jumped up from his desk and ran towards the armory, when he _literally_ bumped into J'onn who was just on his way back.

"Oh! Boss, uh… So… Remember what you said about Supergirl not leaving…?"

J'onn sighed. "I figured she wouldn't listen to me, it's personal for her. I'm deploying the strike team to back her up. We're leaving now, if anything changes about the kryptonite, or CADMUS sends another message I want to know immediately."

"Understood, yes. Good… good luck." Winn watched him go, followed by a group of black-clad agents, all in tactical gear. It was odd not seeing Alex amongst them, like the squad was incomplete.

Winn sighed, and dropped back into his chair, hoping that this nightmare would be over soon.

* * *

Kara shattered at least three feet of concrete around her into pieces when she landed, but she couldn't care less. She couldn't see anything around her that was remotely interesting or scientific.

She used her x-ray vision to scan the ground underneath her and much to her surprise, an entire labyrinth of underground halls, corridors and rooms became visible. Some of them were obstructed by lead, so she at least figured they knew she was coming. But it didn't stop her from tracking down the entrance to a fire hydrant, twisting the top off so that a button popped up. She pressed it, and took a deep breath as the some of the concrete underneath her started twisting, and sinking lower. As soon as her head was under street level, the concrete above her shifted back into position, and she was left in the darkness.

The first light she was again was in the form of a few LED lamps, hanging from the wall in the elevator shaft. As it stopped, Kara braced herself for the fight she knew was coming.

The doors opened, and much to Kara's surprise, she only found a handful of eyes staring back at her. But she immediately zoned in on the two on the blonde woman in the center of the room, who actually looked surprised to see Supergirl too.

One of the henchmen sounded the alarm immediately, while another bulky guy shoved Lillian out of Kara's way as the blonde lunged at her.

"No! You're not getting to walk away from this!" Kara grabbed her by the back of her lab coat, and pulled her back into the room. The man towered over her, but she dodged his attacks immediately, and shoved him into the wall. "Lillian, I don't want to hurt anybody!"

"Except for me, isn't that right?!" How the woman still managed to smirk in the face of danger was beyond Kara. But the superhero didn't hesitate to walk towards her threateningly.

"What you did to Maggie. To my sister, to _me_. What you made me _do_." Kara hissed through her teeth. "I'm going to make it last, Lillian. For as long as I can, I'm going to enjoy watching you die."

"Wise words from the all-loving, amiable super slave, isn't that right? Well, since you're so eager to follow in your sister's footsteps on my part, I'd love to see you try."

Lillian snapped her fingers, and the entire room went pitch dark. It had to be the same trick she pulled with Alex, only Kara smirked. "I have X-ray vision, Luthor. You should know that."

"Yes, but will you see me?" came the taunting voice. Kara enabled her vision, but her stomach sank as she realized that Lillian was right. She saw over fifty humanoid skeletons running around, crouching and talking to one another. But which one was Lillian?!

She saw everybody's skeletons flee the room and run around. She settled for one that looked like Lillian's stature, but as she tried to speed after her, she bumped right into the wall, causing a big hole in it.

X-ray vision also didn't exactly plan for walls. _Great_.

So Kara settled on the next best thing. She scrambled around to find anything useful, and finally found a lab coat one of the scientists must have left behind. She used her heat vision to set fire to the bottom part, and held it up as a makeshift torch.

She still had her eyes on the one skeleton that looked and walked like she recognized Lillian from before, and stumbled forward.

All of a sudden, the familiar feeling of getting weakened by kryptonite settled over her alarmingly quick, and she turned around weakly, trying to get away from it, but that only made it stronger.

She was surrounded.

The only escape route she had was a door behind her. She didn't hesitate to throw it open, and shut it behind her as quickly as possible. She breathed a quick sigh in relief, which was short-lived, as a voice behind her made her jump.

"Good. Now, let's see how good you are when I make it a fair fight."

The light flashed back on, and Kara winced, but her eyes widened when she saw that she was in an empty room, inhabited only by Lillian, standing next to a device in the wall. She pressed a button, and the room glowed green immediately.

CADMUS had been taking a page out of the DEO book, Kara thought weakly, as the nausea set in again. Lillian watched her drop to her knees as she held the dial even further. Supergirl all but collapsed onto the ground, weak and unable to move.

Lillian walked over to her, and sighed, faking sadness. "It could have been so easy, Kara Danvers. Had you just… not tried to save the world."

Kara looked up weakly, wincing against the biting, poisonous feeling inside her. "Ma-Maggie had _nothing_ to do with me."

"Yes, well, sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the things you want in life. Like the way you want my daughter?"

Kara opened her mouth for an angry remark, but Lillian kicked her in the face, causing her to double over in pain. Though the older blonde remained composed, Kara still heard a small growl coming from her. "She could have been great. But like everything else in life, you and those other alien-lovers had to ruin her."

Another kick, this time to her ribs. Kara grunted. "So what… Are you going to do to me, Luthor? Kill me? Dissect me?"

"The last daughter of Krypton. Why, you'd get the five star treatment, my dear. Everything you'd ever dreamt of and more."

Kara chuckled humorlessly. "You're such a coward. Hiding behind your schemes. All I want to do is help people, to make this planet better, and you can't even look me in the eyes and fight me."

"I'm afraid I'm a lover, not a fighter, Supergirl. And your little tactics won't work on me."

A loud _bang_ behind them made Lillian look up, forcing her out of her concentration. "Hmm. It seems like once again, we're out of time. You people keep on making me move, it's no way to run a business."

Lillian walked back to the dial, and twisted it even more. The kryptonite was now almost to full effect, and Kara felt herself slipping away from consciousness. She heard Lillian's heels clicking in her direction, and vaguely saw her face coming closer to hers. "Too bad our kryptonite can't be destroyed, I'd love to wait and see if the explosion kills you before or after you're irradiated."

With a chuckle, Kara heard the door open and close, and knew she was alone. She couldn't move, she could barely think.

A loud shuffle and a series of _bangs_ outside the door made her heart stop. Was that the explosions Lillian was talking about? Was the whole structure about to collapse?

Before she could do anything else, the door flew open again and a load of black-clad agents stormed inside. Kara had never been happier to see a DEO agent that wasn't her sister in her life.

At the back, she saw J'onn walking inside, and running over to her immediately. "Supergirl!"

"J-J'onn.." She managed to mutter weakly. One of the agents ran towards the dial. "Sir, it's kryptonite!" He turned the dial back, and Kara felt herself heal and regenerate almost immediately.

"J'onn, we have to leave, Lillian rigged the place with explosives again! We need to fly them out!"

He nodded, and looked at his team. "Move! Fall back, now! The facility is rigged!"

Instantly, the agents started running back to the elevator. J'onn and Kara shoved all of the agents inside and let it ride up. They shared a look, and then turned to the ceiling.

Just as the entire place started echoing explosions and an immense heatwave came over them, Kara managed to cut a hole in the ceiling, and they shoved through the dirt, upwards, until they finally broke the surface.

The facility exploding caused a sinkhole that sucked the entire street down, and J'onn and Kara got to work in pulling the agents that were desperately clambering away, to safety. When everybody was accounted for and safely back on their way to the DEO, Kara and J'onn flew back to the landing balcony.

Winn looked incredibly relieved to see the both of them unharmed, but Kara turned to J'onn immediately. "I don't get it."

Both men looked at her in confusion, waiting for her to continue.

"She left me alive. She could have shot a bullet through my eyes, or kidnapped me to their next CADMUS hideout, but she left me there, she knew I wouldn't die."

"Maybe it was a mistake?" Winn offered.

Kara shook her head. "Lillian Luthor doesn't make mistakes. She-…"

The trio were interrupted by the sight of Alex, walking out of the corridor to the medical ward. Her face was red from crying, but her eyes were burning with revenge. This was the Alex Danvers even Kara herself was scared of.

"Are you cleared to be here, agent Danvers?" J'onn asked her. Of course he'd be the only one not almost throwing up in fear.

Alex didn't respond verbally, and Kara noticed how her sister had yet to look at her – of course she knew why – but walked over to them. "What do we know about CADMUS?"

"They're… uh…" Winn swallowed thickly. "They're on the move again. The dust around the… _first site_ seems to have settled, so the kryptonite cloud is almost gone. The kryptonite they moved around had to be some sort of piece of their trap for Kara."

"Where is Lillian." Alex hissed through her teeth, apparently on the fine line between bursting out in tears and shooting everybody who even dared to look at her.

"We don't know." Kara answered truthfully, and Alex finally looked at her for the first time since she'd yelled at her to leave both of them behind. The hatred and confusion in Alex's eyes burned right through Kara's soul.

"Maybe the reason why she left you alive is because she wanted you to chase after her again, but this time lure you in a real trap?" J'onn theorized.

"She said something about-… _Oh_." Kara gasped, finally comprehending the weight of Lillian's words. "Maggie…"

She vaguely saw Alex clench her fists in anger, but ignored it over the connection she'd just made. "Lillian said that their kryptonite couldn't be destroyed. She said that she wanted to see what would kill me first, the kryptonite overdose or the explosion."

Winn shook his head slowly, indicating that she'd lost him. Kara stepped forward. "They modified the kryptonite so that it was blast proof to get to me in the first explosion! And Maggie… They enhanced her with kryptonite! So…"

"Kara, that's a stretch." J'onn glared at her, and nodded his head in Alex's direction. "Don't do this in front of her."

Kara ignored him completely and turned around. "I have to go see."

"I'm coming with you."

Kara wanted to protest immediately, and apparently wasn't alone in it as she saw both J'onn and Winn step forward, but Alex glared at them immediately. "I need to do this. To… be _sure_."

Kara nodded, as she and Alex walked over to the balcony. Before she took off, she looked her sister in the eyes. "Alex, whatever we're going to find there… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have… I should have never taken that decision."

Alex's eyes brimmed with tears again, but she didn't respond. Though Kara knew she didn't need to. She took Alex in her arms, and flew her Downtown, to the warehouse.

She gently sat Alex down, and looked at her. "I'll go first. You stay back."

"No. I need to see her."

"Alex, you might not-…"

Alex interrupted her immediately. "Shut up. Just…stop talking."

Kara felt the light nausea at the residue of kryptonite in the air around her, but managed to use her x-ray vision, albeit in a weakened state.

Finally, her eyes settled on a human-looking figure, underneath a few layers of rubble. Not moving, but…

Kara raced towards the spot and started yanking away rubble. Alex realized what she was doing and moved over to join her, barely feeling the stones and debris ripping apart her hands and forearms as she hurried to help Kara pull layer after layer away.

The closer they got, the more Kara felt herself weaken, until she realized that she'd probably used all of her strength on lifting, and felt depleted. However, the weaker she became, the closer they were to Maggie. Kara was sure of it. And she'd gladly take that pain any day.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Alex pulled a last chunk of rubble away, and Maggie's face came into view. Her eyes closed, her complexion pale, and a lot of blood around her.

Alex broke down again. " _Baby_ …" She sobbed loudly as she and Kara tried to pull the rest of the debris away, but there were huge pieces of concrete that Alex was too weak to move, and Maggie's body weakened Kara too much to help.

Instead, Alex settled on leaning down so that her forehead was touching Maggie's, and her fingers traced her girlfriend's cheekbones. "I'm so sorry… I love you Maggie… I'll… I…" Alex broke off her sentence, and wailed her girlfriend's name over and over again.

Kara was sobbing now too, as she had to turn away from the sight, not willing to pull Alex away from Maggie again.

Kara's head snapped back when she heard a sound behind her.

She hadn't imagined it, based off the look on Alex's face.

A weak gasp for air.


	18. Chapter 18

"Maggie?!" Alex slowly caressed her girlfriend's face with her thumb. "Maggie, baby… Are-… Can you hear me?!"

"Ugh…" The weak moan underneath her made her eyes water again. Alex was heaving breaths, laughing through her tears because _Maggie was alive…_

"A-Alex…?" She asked weakly, opening her eyes to slits, wincing at the light. The agent shifted so that she wouldn't lean on anything that was pressing Maggie down, and snapped her head to face her sister. "Kara, move this concrete! We need to get her out of there!"

"I can't…" Kara's voice cracked as she shook her head. Alex frowned incredulously, overrun by emotions. "What do you _mean_ you can't?!"

The blonde stared at her sister intensely. "I mean she's still full of kryptonite, Alex… She's making me sick."

Alex took a deep breath, realizing the direness of the situation. Kara took a step forward, but winced and held a hand to her chest. "Alex, I'm sorry.. .I… I'll fly back and get help!"

Kara stumbled backwards in her haste to get away from the scene, and Alex watched her launch into the sky, before trying to lift some of the rubble herself.

"S-stop… You're hurting yourself…"

Alex laughed weakly, and held back a sob as she turned back to her girlfriend. "You're worried about me hurting myself… That's so you."

Maggie grimaced, and clenched her eyes shut. "I think… My leg is stuck."

Alex's heart dropped at the words, but she willed herself to stay calm, for her girlfriend's sake. "Can you still feel it?"

"I don't know…" Maggie answered truthfully. "I don't know if I feel anything… All of it just hurts."

"Do you… Remember what they did?" Alex didn't _want_ to ask the question, but she knew that she had to keep Maggie awake and talking.

"They uh…" Maggie scrunched her brow in thought. "They knocked me out… and I woke up on a table and they were…I…" Maggie took an uneven, shaky breath, and trailed off. Alex frowned, and shifted closer to her. "Hey, no… Mags, then what happened? You need to talk to me… Maggie!"

"T-They…Alex, it hurts…" Maggie whimpered, her eyes filling up with tears. Alex swallowed thickly and gave a weak smile. "It's going to be okay. Kara is going to come back with people that can help you… You're going to be fine, baby."

"I… My…" Maggie tried to form a sentence, and Alex desperately dug through the rubble to finally find Maggie's bloody hand, gently holding it in hers, afraid that anything other than a light touch could aggravate her injuries.

Finally, Maggie let out another whimper of pain. "The k-kryptonite… Did I… Hurt you?"

"No… You didn't, you didn't hurt either of us. But it saved you from the explosion, it shielded you somehow, I don't…" Alex shook her head. She didn't know what happened to her, or how the kryptonite had somehow saved Maggie's life, but it wasn't something she wanted to think about right now. The only thing that mattered was her girlfriend.

"Alex, my blood sugar… Is dropping… I've been here for a while." She chuckled weakly, following it immediately by another wince. Alex nodded quickly and stroked the detective's hair. "I'm going to get you to a hospital. I'm going to make sure we get all that kryptonite out of you, and I'm going to make you better."

"You already… Made me better, Alex." Maggie smiled. "I heard you… What you were saying to me… About spending the last months with me… I feel the same way."

Alex was full-on bawling now. Why did Maggie's words sound like a goodbye?

"Maggie, you can't do this to me. I thought you were dead, I can't lose you again now. You need to hold on, help is coming, please."

"It's okay, Alex… I'm… Just… Going to sleep… It won't hurt anymore."

"No, I won't let you." Alex cried, the adrenalin through her veins now causing her to pull some more at the rubble on Maggie's body. Some of the debris gave away, and she kept on yanking, tears streaming down her face, until she couldn't breathe anymore. "I love you, Maggie. I can't lose you."

Maggie was panting now, her breaths shallow and uneven. "Just… Please… H-hold my hand. Kiss me, I'm scared… I'm scared to go without you."

Alex wiped angrily at the tears coming from her eyes, and leaned back down to comply with Maggie's whispered wish. She kissed her forehead, ignoring the copper taste in her mouth, and leaned lower to kiss the detective's lips. "I love you so much, Maggie Sawyer."

Before she could hear Maggie's reply, a _woosh_ of air behind her made her look up. It was Kara, landing on the concrete with J'onn behind her. "I got this, Alex. Step back."

" _Hurry._ " Alex sniffed, before jumping back as J'onn went to work, throwing the concrete away from her, and freeing the detective within a few seconds.

"We need to get her to the DEO. I'll fly her. Supergirl, you take Alex."

Kara nodded, and went to her sister, whose eyes seemed fixed on Maggie, who J'onn was now pulling into his arms.

The blonde knew it felt eerie, pulling her sister away from Maggie for the second time that night at the exact same place. Only this time, Kara knew, they had hope. And if luck would be on their side at all tonight… Maggie would be okay.

She reached the DEO buildings in under a minute, setting Alex down on the landing pad. The agent immediately raced inside, to the medical ward, and Kara could see that her sister had gone into full 'Doctor Danvers' mode, though her hands were still shaking.

She just hoped that they weren't too late.


	19. Chapter 19

Alex Danvers was a trained professional, in many fields. She was an expert in hand-to-hand combat, knew her way around a firearm, and she could get information out of basically anything that produced sound.

So why couldn't she keep herself together standing in an operating theater, like she'd done numerous times before?

Her hands kept shaking, even though she'd clenched her fists at least ten times. But she had to be here for this. They couldn't send her away, they _wouldn't…_

Of course Alex tried to cut herself some slack too. After all, this wasn't a routine surgery. This wasn't even anything remotely close to routine. This was her girlfriend. Lying on a table, bleeding and hurt and… _God._

She'd seen her girlfriend bleed too much in the past few days.

Doctor Hamilton rushed into the room as fast as she could, heaving breaths. Her eyes widened when she saw the scene in front of her. "I- I came as soon as I heard…"

"K-kryptonite extraction." Alex looked up at her friend, trying to keep her voice steady. "I think she's been injected with crystals that altered… That…" She trailed off, unable to find words. She was having a black-out, right on the spot.

She clenched her eyes shut and took a shaky breath. "Uh… The… Uh… It altered something… I don't…"

"Alex, you're not going to be able to help like this." Hamilton said. It was rough and cruel, but Alex knew she was speaking the truth. Her eyes filled with tears. "But… I…"

The other doctor stepped forward, and examined Maggie closely. "Her leg was crushed, but it looks like rest of it is just cuts and bruises… She was lucky."

"She wasn't lucky. The kryptonite saved her. I don't know how. But… She's…"

"Alex, did you give her glucagon yet?"

"Glu-… I…"

"Alex, focus! Did you give her a shot to raise her blood sugar level? She's hypoglycemic!"

"I…no…"

"Okay, Alex, you need to back off and let me do this." Hamilton gave her a stern look. "I know you're going to complain, but you're not in the right mindset."

Alex turned around to look the other woman in the eyes. "I can't leave her. I _won't._ "

Hamilton turned around, browsing the shelves to find a bottle. "Then sit over there, hold her hand if you have to, Alex, but you need to move."

Alex looked down, and sighed. She settled on giving a quiet nod, and moving to the other side of Maggie, whispering something into her ear.

Hamilton finally found the bottle, and put it down next to a surgical tray. She then went to look for a syringe. But her thoughts were already one step ahead.

"Alex, I need your help."

The agent looked up. "What? What is it?"

Hamilton turned around, filling the syringe with glucagon. "The kryptonite antidote formula. You worked on it."

Alex's eyes widened as she realized the fact. "Yeah… I did! A-a few months ago."

"I need you to prepare it. It might be the only thing we can do. I'll keep her comfortable until then and see if I can figure out something else."

Alex seemed torn between staying with Maggie and leaving her to help, but the urging glare of her colleague didn't leave space for argument. She gave Maggie a quick kiss on the lips, which the woman reciprocated weakly, and left.

Hamilton walked over to her side, and grabbed a pair of scissors, cutting open Maggie's pant leg. She grabbed the syringe, made sure that there were no air bubbles, and jammed the needle into Maggie's thigh.

The woman's face scrunched up in a grimace, as she moaned weakly. Within seconds, Amelia could see that Maggie was starting to regain a little color in her cheeks.

"A-Al…Alex…"

Hamilton looked at her. "Sorry, Maggie, I need her in the lab."

"This place… is going to fall apart…without her." The detective smirked weakly. Hamilton laughed as she moved to check Maggie's blood sugar level. "I'm not disagreeing with you. You picked a hell of a woman."

"Don't I know it." Maggie commented off-handedly as she watched Hamilton work.

The woman pulled up Maggie's shirt, to reveal the gauze that Alex had managed to put on to stop the bleeding. She took off the gauze, and replaced it, pressing the new pads down.

Maggie moaned, and winced, but then dropped her head back onto the table. "Are you… Hamilton?"

The doctor laughed, and nodded. "In the flesh."

"Alex told me about you. She…admires you."

"I'm going to stitch your stomach, alright?" Hamilton asked, waiting for the detective's small nod before taking a seat on a stool and rolling closer to the table. "I bet she didn't want you to tell me that."

"I don't really care." Maggie shrugged. She eyed the other woman weakly as she began to stitch up the cut. "How are you feeling, Maggie?"

"Tired. Weak. Like I should have died but I didn't."

Hamilton frowned, but couldn't tell if Maggie was joking. They fell into silence after that, while the doctor stitched up the large cut, occasionally stopping when she tugged a little too hard and the detective grunted.

After she was done, Maggie closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

Hamilton did the best she could in cleaning Maggie up, using butterfly closures on the cuts on her face, and bandaging the bigger wounds on her wrists and arms.

A few seconds after Hamilton decided that she was done, Alex rushed back into the room cradling a test tube with such gentleness that Hamilton almost thought it was a baby.

"Did you get it right?" Amelia asked, taking the test tube and grabbing another syringe. Alex panted, and shrugged. "This was the recipe we came up with for kryptonite poisoning in humans, but I don't… I don't know if it's going to work, we never tested it."

"Well, now's a good time." Hamilton filled the syringe and walked over to Maggie, finding a vein quickly and inserting the needle. Alex looked over her shoulder, her heart pounding erratically in her chest.

Maggie woke up by the stinging pain of the needle, and jolted at the sight of the syringe in her forearm. Alex rushed forward immediately, grabbing Maggie by the shoulders and forcing her down. "Easy… It's okay… It should help."

Maggie relaxed at Alex's touch, and leaned back down, reaching for her girlfriend's hand with her own. Hamilton was examining her closely, monitoring every single expression on Maggie's face.

The detective turned her head, and cleared her throat. And again. And again, until she finally started coughing. Alex jumped up from her comforting state, and cradled Maggie's face in her hands. "Hey… Mags, breathe… Can you hear me? Maggie? Look at me…"

"Alex, how does the antidote work?!"

"I don't know! We never tested it!" The agent turned back to her girlfriend. "Hey… Baby…" She took a shaky breath, trying to keep herself from panicking. "Amelia, she's choking!"

Maggie lurched forward, her back arching off the table, as her body started seizing. Slow yet devastating shocks running through her whole body. Hamilton reached forward to pin Maggie down, while Alex ran a hand through her own hair, practically pulling at it. "What did I do?! Did I do it wrong?! I… _God_ , I don't know what to do!"

"It's alright… It's alright…" Hamilton tried to calm Alex down as she noticed that Maggie's shocks were dying down as sudden as they'd come. "It's just her body getting rid of the kryptonite, Alex… She's… She needs to fight now. It's like chemotherapy."

Alex wiped at the tears that had run down her cheeks during the action, and lowered down onto her knees to be at eye-level with her girlfriend. "I'm right here, it's okay… I won't leave again."

Hamilton took off her gloves, and sighed. "Okay, I checked her over for injuries, she should be good. Her leg worries me, we should get her a scan as soon as we can, I think it's just a break. Did you make more of the antidote?"

"3 tubes."

"Let's give her a dosage every six hours, that should last us through the night, we can make more in the morning."

Alex nodded, and thanked Amelia sincerely as the doctor walked outside, leaning her forehead against Maggie's. "You're okay… You're going to be okay."

Outside the medical ward, Hamilton found Kara, sitting on the ground and staring ahead.

"Hey… How are you holding up, Supergirl?"

Kara sighed, and shrugged. "Lillian Luthor got away again."

"I think Lillian Luthor is not going to stop until she walks into a bullet. Or your heat vision for that matter." Hamilton smiled weakly. "Maggie is stable. It's going to be a long, rough night, but she's going to get better."

Kara smiled gratefully, and pulled Hamilton into a hug. "Thank you… So much…"

They pulled away, and the doctor smiled politely at her before walking off. Kara took a step in the direction of the medical ward, but decided against it, as she still wasn't sure if she could take it.

Though from what she could see, the way that Alex was holding her girlfriend and kissing Maggie's pale forehead, the two of them would finally be okay.


	20. Chapter 20

Kara had dreaded the moment when she and Alex finally ran into each other. It was the middle of the night, and the DEO building was practically deserted except for a few scattered agents on watch. She knew that Alex wouldn't leave Maggie's side, but apparently Alex had taken a short break on the balcony.

Kara herself had decided to fly back to her apartment; she figured that she couldn't go chase Lillian Luthor by herself without any back-up, and the thought of sitting around at the DEO doing nothing made her even angrier. So as she walked over to the balcony and spotted the agent staring into the sky, her stomach clenched uncomfortably.

She weighed her options. She could turn around and pretend that she wasn't going to leave in the first place. But she realized damn well that both she and her sister were adults, and she was _Supergirl_ for god's sake, she never backed off just because she didn't want to face whatever was ahead of her.

So with a deep breath and a cautious wince, she stepped up to the balcony and stood beside her sister. "Hey."

Alex glanced sideways, and saw that it was her. "Hi."

"How is she doing?" Kara asked silently.

Her sister sighed and stared ahead, a somber look on her face. "It's tough. She has a fever, her body is trying to sweat it out. And she's vomiting a lot. So we're just trying to keep her hydrated. I'm just… I should go back."

Alex made a move to turn around, but Kara held her back. "Alex, I really think we need to talk. She'll be fine for a few more minutes."

The agent seemed to hesitate, but then sighed and turned around. "There's nothing to talk about here."

"There _is_ , Alex. And I know that none of this situation is about me, but I can see how it's getting to you and I can't stand to watch you trying to be strong when I _know_ that you're breaking."

"I'm okay, Kara." She played it off with a one-sided shrug. "I just need to keep focused for a few more hours. She should be okay once we get all of the kryptonite out of her system."

"Alex, just stop. Please."

Her sister crossed her arms and looked at her, so Kara continued. "Just for one second, please talk to me like I'm your sister. Stop pretending I'm a coworker, stop pretending like you have to be clinical with me, and only talk in facts. Just… _Be honest_ with me, Alex. That's all I'm asking."

Alex seemed conflicted for a second, and looked away from Kara, as the blonde noticed that her shoulders had started to shake. When she turned back around, she could see the tears in her eyes. "I'm just… I lost her… _so many times_. I'm… I'm so tired."

Kara took her sister's hand in hers. "Alex, I'm so sorry that I… That I did what I did." She didn't need to repeat it, or draw a picture, for Alex to know what she was talking about. "It was selfish, and ignorant, and…"

"…And it was the right thing to do." Alex chuckled weakly, as Kara moved forward to gently wipe the tears from her sister's cheeks. "I've been standing here for a while, thinking. I… I would have done it too."

It didn't seem to ease Kara's conscience, but Alex took a step into her direction and looked her in the eyes. "Maggie told me a few days ago that she knew that you were on the top spot on the list of people I cared about. And that she knew that she could never beat you."

Kara smiled watery, as tears pooled in her eyes too. Alex sniffed, and continued. "… I understand why you did it, Kara. It wasn't an easy choice, and you didn't have time to think. But…"

"I just wish I could have saved her."

"Everyone has their limits, Kara. Even you."

Kara laughed weakly. "Especially me."

Alex turned back to the sky, and sighed. "I'm just… _pissed_. At everything. A-and… I have nothing to do. Nothing to channel my… _anger_ into." Alex clenched her hands into fists. "I need to do something."

"Do you want to spar?"

To be honest, after all that happened, the last thing Kara wanted to do was to fight with her sister. But if she could ease Alex's mind and give her something to do, she'd be happy to be her punchbag.

But to her slight relief, Alex smiled weakly. "I'm not in the mood for fighting."

Kara noticed the double meaning of her statement, and she nodded gratefully, leaning forward to finally envelop her sister into a hug. After all that happened, the cathartic feeling of having her sister in her arms made the tears come again.

When they pulled away after a while, Alex dried her own eyes. "I should… Go back. Be with her."

"I'm going to get some sleep. I'll be here as soon as I can tomorrow. We still need to find CADMUS."

Alex smiled at her sister, and watched her take off into the sky, before heading back inside.

Not to her surprise, she found Maggie lying in a bed in the ward, connected to monitors, IV's and other wires, and thrashing about, moaning weakly.

Alex pressed a kiss against her forehead, and whispered that it was all going to be okay.

* * *

A few hours later, Hamilton found the agent lying next to Maggie on the bed, curled up against her and holding her in her arms. She smiled at the endearing sight, but knew that she had to wake Alex up.

So with a gentle squeeze and some quiet callings of her name, the agent finally cracked one eye open, and quickly composed herself.

"I just checked, the kryptonite should be flushed out of her system by now. Her blood sugar levels are all good, and I think her fever broke."

Alex nodded, and turned around to look at Maggie's face. She had more color than before, and she sweating had died down. She grasped her hand in hers, as Hamilton continued. "I'd still want to keep her here for observation at least another 12 hours, but I think it's over, Alex."

The agent smiled gratefully, as Hamilton walked out of the room after changing one of the IV bags. Maggie's eyes fluttered, and she slowly blinked back into consciousness, met with Alex's loving gaze. "Hey."

" _Hey_." Maggie croaked weakly.

"You're okay. The kryptonite is gone, you're okay."

Maggie gave a quick nod, before turning her face. "I feel like I've been hit by a truck."

"Well, you were delirious for most of the night, so that would explain it." Alex kissed the back of Maggie's hand. "You should rest, Mags. I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?" Maggie looked up at her. Alex grinned, and laid back down onto the bed, wrapping her arms around her. "Where else could I possibly be?"

As Maggie felt her girlfriend holding her, she drifted back off into sleep.

And as Alex felt how Maggie relaxed into her hold, she'd never loved the woman more.

CADMUS was a thing of the future, something to deal with down the road. But for now, this was all Alex needed to finally feel safe again.

And it was absolutely perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sequel to this story, 'Hypertension', is up, so give that one a read too!


End file.
